


Can't Get No Catisfaction

by MerakiMela



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Identity Reveal, Mild Smut, Oblivious Adrien Agreste, Secret Crush, Secret Relationship, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-05-16 07:03:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14806617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerakiMela/pseuds/MerakiMela
Summary: Living double lives can become complicated when they interconnect. After Chat Noir sets Marinette up with a certain model he's familiar with, in order to evade Alya's suspicions of their relationship, he manages to somehow lose everything and gain it all at the same time. Meanwhile Marinette struggles with honesty and loyalty in ways that her partner doesn't seem to understand.





	1. A Wild Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Just in case anybody saw this on fanfiction.net, don't worry this isn't stolen I'm just posting it on different websites to reach a wider audience.
> 
> I'm working away at new chapters, but I keep getting distracted by ideas for different stories. Hopefully I'll be able to get an update out soon.
> 
> Anyway like I said on the other website, this is my first fanfiction so I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1.   
  
On a pleasantly cool Parisian evening, Marinette sat on the side of her bed, nervously fidgeting with the pencil in her hands. Earlier, she had been attempting to sketch design ideas to help pass the time as she waited for her visitor, but her mind was not in a creative place. Breaking the silence, a soft rapping came from above. She looked up to see the figure of Chat Noir opening the trap door from her room to her balcony. although he was silhouetted, she could still see his reflective emerald eyes and a hint of his pearly white grin. Silently, he lowered himself down onto her bed and into the soft light of her room. Swiftly, he gave a kneeling bow in front of Marinette in a grandiose manner.   
  
"You summoned me, my princess?" he whispered, looking up at her with a very flirtatious expression. Marinette didn't know whether to groan or giggle. Ever since they began secretly dating, Chat Noir had started really hamming up the charm. It was cute in his own frustrating way, but Marinette was too stressed to encourage him.   
  
"I'm afraid this visit is for business, not pleasure." She sighed. Chat Noir's fake little cat ears twitched.   
  
"Is an Akuma targeting you again?" He asked, a serious tone replacing his flirtatious one. In a moment he shifted from his position in front of her to sitting beside her on the bed, hand on her shoulder. Marinette shook her head.   
  
"No, it's worse than that. Alya is on to us." After a few moments of registering what she said, Chat Noir burst into laughter, barely attempting to stifle it.   
  
"I'm serious, Chat. Alya is getting crazy suspicious of me ever since I started seeing you. The girl can sense a scoop." Marinette said, her level of stress very clear in her tone of voice. She looked over at Chat Noir, who sat hunched and leaning on his knees, fingers drumming along jawline to his chin.   
  
"Something you've done must have set her off. Have you been sighing dreamily thinking of me in class? Or doodled love hearts around 'Madame Chat Noir' in your note book?" He asked with a playful voice, looking up at her flashing a mischievous grin.   
  
"Get real, I'm smarter than to do anything that obvious."   
  
_Well, nowdays I am._   
  
Marinette couldn't help but look back at all the times she couldn't help but make her crush on Adrien the most obvious thing on the planet. It wasn't until she began dating Chat Noir that she was finally able to stop drooling after Adrien, and Alya definitely noticed.   
  
"I think she's caught on because I stopped pursuing my crush. Rationalising that if I dropped that, there must be someone else in the picture." Marinette theorized out loud. This causes Chat to snap up straight.   
  


* * *

  
  
"Wait a minute- you had a crush on someone? How intriguing..." He continued his playful tone, but on the inside he felt fireworks. He never noticed Marinette showing any interest in anyone at school. She was always so shy and nervous at school, he couldn't imagine her being able to ask anyone out the way she acts there. But she said pursuing...she must have been actively trying to date someone without him noticing. Thinking about how close he got to losing her if this other guy had asked her out first made his stomach churn.   
  
"Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing thinking about it. But I guess everyone gets crushes in high school." She admitted, her cheeks flushing bright pink, eyes glancing away shyly. Damn she's cute when she's embarrassed. She was usually so confident around Chat, but just the mention of her crush made her act like this. The churning grew worse.   
  
"Princess, I must ask or it will kill me; do you still have feelings for him?" He asked nervously. She looked down to think, before looking back up at him and moving towards him. She held his hands, looking at them as she caressed them.   
  
"I don't want this to come between us, but I feel like we need as much honesty as we can get in this relationship considering the circumstances. I kind of still do have feelings for him."   
  
_There is it._   
  
She looked back up, her eyes locking to his. She brought a delicate hand to the side of his face and cupped it as her thumb softly rubbed the apple of his cheek.   
  
"But I would never act on those feelings! I'm with you now and that's all I want. Those feelings will go away, I don't even know him that well." She explained.   
  
"Would I know him?" He braced for an answer.   
  
"I think you've met him at least once. I remember seeing you talk to him during an akuma attack." So he knew him. Not very well, by the sound of it, but he had met him before. Chat needed to know more.   
  
"What's his name?" He probed further. A slight grin grew over Marinette's face.   
  
"Are you jealous, my little kitty cat?"   
  
"Unbelievably jealous, princess." He admitted, in a low, flirtatious tone. He pulled her closer by the hips. Leaning in towards her he placed a gentle kiss on the side of her neck. He could feel her body quiver at his touch. Hopefully this was enough of a distraction for her to not notice how nervous he was.   
  
"Please don't worry. There's no chance anything would happen between us; we're on too different levels." She attempted to reassure. Different levels? He must be in another grade. Marinette seemed to snap out of it, and stood up and away from him, beginning a familiar stressed out pacing.   
  
"There must be something we can do to get Alya off our trail." She exclaimed.   
  
_And to keep this mystery man away from my princess._   
  
"I have an idea. It's a bit wild, but it might just work. Ready to hear me-owt?"   
  
"Ugh. Sure." She stopped pacing and looked at him, waiting.   
  
"How about you go on a fake date with someone else?" He suggested. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.   
  
"What?"   
  
"C'mon, the purrfect way to stop her is to show her she's right. People stop looking when they think they've won." He rationalized. She paused to think.   
  
"That's actually pretty genius, Chat. Looks like Ladybug isn't the only superhero with a brain." She teased. He gave a fake offended gasp.   
  
"I've always been as smart as her, if not smarter. You ever see Ladybug make up puns on the fly?" He quipped, grinning with pride.   
  
"It must really bug you out if you're getting this defensive." She quipped back as she leaned against her desk confidently.   
  
"Aw, I'm rubbing off on you." He cooed, hopping down from the bed quickly making his way to her, and began stroking her soft, shiny hair.   
  
"Who were you thinking of setting me up with?" She asked inquisitively. He took a deep breath for strength.   
  
"I was thinking Adrien Agreste."   
  
"Wha- how...wha- why? Why Adrien exactly? Just out of curiosity." Marinette exploded. The idea seemed to break her brain, before she quickly attempted to appear more casual. Chat wasn't sure was he was hoping for, but he wasn't sure he liked how shocked she was at the concept.   
  
_Was I really that far from being an option in her mind?_   
  
"Well, it would have to be someone I trust. Also from Alya's perspective surely it would be the least suspicious. I mean, you and Adrien are friends and stuff like this happens naturally all the time between friends." He attempted to bluff his reasoning.   
  
"I- I don't know..."   
  
"Something wrong with him?"   
  
"Oh no! Absolutely not! Adrien is wonderful! It's just, he's my friend and all, but I have trouble talking to him. I doubt I'd be able to ask him out in a way that will convince him to say yes." She rambled. He really wished that in his civilian life, he was close enough to her for her to not have to keep up her shy persona. He tried not to let where he came from be intimidating but he guessed there was only so much he could do.   
  
"You've told me about how awkward you can be, but honestly I think you've gotten a lot better. These days I can't imagine anyone telling you no. Trust me princess, this cat is in the bag." He reassured with a wink.


	2. Step One: Don't Panic

Chapter 2.  
  
"Hey girl, I've never seen you look so nice and so terrified at once. What's the deal?" Alya inquired, one eye brow raised as she looked Marinette up and down.

"I've decided I'm going to ask Adrien out today." She said quickly, almost hoping she wouldn't hear it.

"What? Are you kidding me? After you've been telling me to drop it for two weeks? Suddenly it's back on?" Alya exclaimed, eyes widening and smile stretching.

"I've got it all organised, planned the perfect date that he would have the least amount of reasons to say no to."

"Wow and guns blazing too, apparently. All this time you must save been saving up energy for this moment. Very strategic of you. All those times I said don't improv must have paid off!" Alya leaned in to give her friend a proud hug.

Despite having a plan, Marinette was still terrified to bring herself to ask. Although, on the plus side, if he turns her down, that should make Alya give her a break. On the other hand, the idea of him saying yes was just as scary. A moment later, Adrien and Nino entered the classroom and made their way to their seats in front of them.

"Hey Adrikins! Word of warning, Marinette is planning to ask you out which is pretty sad, so you should probably avoid her as much as you can today until she gets the hint." Chloe called out from her seat on the other side of the room, clearly trying to get everyone else in the room to hear.

_Damn._

Marinette hadn't even noticed Chloe had been eavesdropping, and now she had ruined everything! Before she could say anything to make it worse Marinette shot up in her seat and bolted out the classroom as Chloe's laugh echoed into the hall.

"Marinette! Wait!" Was that Adriens voice? No, she probably imagined it.

"Marinette..." Tikki's soft voice came out of her bag, soon followed by her cute little face. Once Marinette rounded the corner, she slumped against the wall and slid down, hugging her knees to her chest and face down in her arms.

"That was so humiliating, Tikki! How did I let Chat talk me into this?"

"You love him and wanted to protect your relationship with him!" Tikki responded sweetly, pressing her forehead lovingly against her arm.

"Eep! Someone's coming!" Tikki yelped before diving back in her bag.

"Mari, are you okay?" Adrien asked softly.

_Well, this couldn't get any more embarrassing._

"Marinette's too traumatised to come to the phone right now. Please leave a message after the beep." She mumbled, muffled through her arms. Adrien chuckled.

"You've never been afraid to make fun of yourself. I've always admired that." That made Marinette look up.

"What?"

"Is what Chloe said true? Were you going to ask me out?" He asked, his smile dazzling her.

"I-it was the plan, yeah." She groaned.

"What did this plan include?" He asked, eyes flashing with curiosity. It reminded her of Chat, which helped her relax.

"I was going ask if you wanted to come over to mine to play video games so that it was easier to convince your father you were coming over for a group assignment and then once your bodyguard was gone we could sneak out for a movie. Figured sitting in the back of a dimly lit cinema would be low profile enough for you to not get caught. Saying it out loud makes me sound crazy, I know. I definitely overthought it." She explained.

"I'm impressed, Mari. I...didn't think you understood my situation that well. That actually sounds purr- perfect. I'd love to go on a date with you." He told her, his smile warm and sweet.

"Wait, what? You are? It does? You do? Ah..." Marinette's brain seemed to be overloading with information.

"Come on we should get back to class before we're late. We can talk at lunch to sort out the details." He held out his hand, which she took hesitantly, careful not to stumble as he helped her to her feet. His hand felt good in hers, and she couldn't help but feel a swell of feelings flooding her once again. No, she can't think like that, she's with Chat Noir now. Marinette went to take her hand away, but was quickly stopped by Adrien tightening his grip on her.

"Wait, Chloe's my friend, but what she did was pretty cruel. How about some mild revenge?" Marinette wasn't sure what he meant until he lowered their held hands and turned to face the classroom.

"Oh! I mean, oh. Yeah sure, I'm down for putting her in her place." Marinette giggled. He gave a chuckle and bumped her playfully with his shoulder.

The pair walked back into the classroom holding hands, striding to the side of the room they both sat at. The only people who seemed fazed were Chloe and Alya. Nobody else seemed to notice, but that didn't matter. The expression on Chloe's face was worth a thousand reactions. Before her or Alya could react, the teacher entered the classroom and ushered everyone to their seats.

 

* * *

 

Adrien shifted impatiently in his seat, sneaking glances at his phone under his desk. Marinette promised Chat Noir that she would text as soon as the deed was done, but it had been twenty minutes since the beginning of class and he'd gotten nothing yet. To be fair, the plan was to ask outside of class hours so when she promised to text she was probably expecting to be able to without having to sneak. But still, waiting made him nervous. He felt bad using the opportunity to hear what she thought about his civilian personality, but it seemed so rare to be able to get someone's unfiltered reaction to you as a third party, and Adrien seriously doubted many people in his life are honest to his face about what they think of him.

>>hey kitty cat all dkne

>>*donr

>>*DONE dammit!

>>sorty about the typod I'm typing in class tryin g not to get caught

>>I turned autocorrect on I can't handle this

He tried not to laugh. She really is clumsy.

  

How did it go princess?<<

Was he a gentleman to you?<<

He took a deep, but silent breath.

>>he was a sweetheart

>>as usual

>>it went as messy as I thought it would

>>but this time it wasn't my fault

>>Chloe went full Chloe and tried to ruin everything

>>I almost need to thank her

Oh?<<

>>yeah if she didn't humiliate me Adrien might not have felt bad enough for me to say yes

>>it's the exact type of thing he would do

>>he's so kind and always trying to help

>>can't help but feel like a loser but at least we got what we wanted

Adrien was about to respond when he got the warning cough from Nino which meant the teacher was walking past looking in his direction. Immediately he pretended to pick up a pen from the floor and "continue taking notes", which seemed good enough for the teacher who moved on. Maybe it was how crazy about her he was, but he seriously had trouble understanding how she had such little faith in herself. It was times like this he found himself wishing she were more like Ladybug. She's so confident Adrien couldn't imagine anything getting to her. He was in love with Marinette, but he couldn't help but still have feelings for Ladybug. Maybe it would fade, like Marinette said about her crush.

_Ugh._

Adrien preferred not to think about him right now. Marinette joked about how jealous he was, but she really didn't understand just how scared he was of the chance that if she got a better offer than him, she would take it. That's why he was only comfortable with her going on a date with his civilian self for their plan. She couldn't leave him for him; it was foolproof. Suddenly he felt a small vibration between his legs.

>>phew that was close nearly got caught

>>I'm putting my phone away before I push my luck any further

>>talk to you soon my love


	3. Date Fright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is feeling very conflicted.
> 
> Adrien on the other hand is having a great time.

Chapter 3.

"Alya I'm nervous, he'll be here any minute now. What do I do? What do I say?" Marinette yelled into the phone, pacing her room wildly. She decided to wear a short black and green playsuit for the date. Pretty, but not too formal, and reminds her that's she's with Chat Noir and she can't get carried away with Adrien. This was particularly important considering Chat Noir offered to keep an eye on the date and offer advice if she needed it, which seemed like a weird offer to Marinette. Sometimes she just didn't get that cat.

"Calm down, girl you got this. Remember, you made it this far which means he likes you. Before you start don't give me that "it's pity" excuse, because I refuse to believe that. You're hot Mari! It's time you owned it!"

"Marinette? Adrien is here to see you. Shall I send him up?"

Marinette yelped and nearly dropped her phone.

"Uh...yes papa! Thank you!" She called down.

"He's here gotta go bye!"

"Please fill me in la-"

*Beep*

Marinette took a deep breath, a bit too deep. She seemed to deflate when she breathed out again.

"Alya is right, Marinette! You can do this! You should believe in yourself!" Tikki cheered from her hiding spot.

Moments later, there was a strangely familiar rapping at the door. Marinette opened the door to find Adrien waiting on the other side holding school books in his hands and looking somewhat nervous. Probably worried about being caught. At any rate, she had no doubt she was a thousand times more nervous.

 

* * *

 

"H-heydrien...I mean, hey Adrien!" Marinette greeted.

Adrien smiled warmly in response to her awkwardness. It's funny, but he was almost expecting her to behave how she did when he was Chat Noir, not how she behaves around people from school. He sighed. Right now he was just someone from school from her perspective. He'll have to work on making her feel more relaxed.

"Hey Mari! Where can I put this junk?" He held up the books he had carried with him.

"Why did you bring a history book, a chemistry book and a french grammar book? Didn't anyone notice their not for the same class?" She inquired, the confusion seeming to be enough to calm her for the moment. Adrien shrugged.

"Nobody ever seems to pay too much attention to me as long as they assume I'm doing what I'm meant to."

"Not me. I mean, not much slips past me. You can put them on my desk." The awkwardness was back in full swing.

As Adrien put the books down, he took a curious look at her sketch book. She hadn't let Chat Noir flip through it yet, usually pounced on him before he can get a good look past two or three pages. Not that he minded the pouncing at all. If she's acting shy, this is his chance to get a better look.

"I've always wanted to see your designs. May I have a flick through?" He asked, picking up the sketchbook.

"Uh...s-sure." He was turned away from her, but he could hear her move to her bed and drop herself heavily. He held back a chuckle. Flicking through the designs, he was just as impressed at he thought he'd be. Hats, bags, dresses, men's suits, she seemed to have a knack for them all.

"These are fantastic Mari, I'd love to have lots of these in real life."

As if he spoke too soon, he turned the page to see a progression of concept design for a very familiar scarf. The scarf his father had gotten him last year. In the top left corner read "Adrien's Birthday Present" followed by a date a few days before his birthday, which confirmed to Adrien that Marinette had been the one to design his scarf.

"My scarf...you made it? Why didn't you say anything?" He turned to see her lying face down on her bed. She looked up, noticing he was now paying attention to her and she jolted and rolled in a panic, falling off the bed.

"I forgot to label my present for you when I dropped it off at your house, and when I saw how happy you were when you thought it was from your dad I...I couldn't ruin that for you."

Adrien stood silently, lost in thought. How many times has she done something like this is order to make others happy?

"I'm sorry I ruined your present Adrien." She said softly, rising from the floor with her face turned to the floor.

"Oh, Mari. That happiness from thinking my father got me a nice gift? It was pretty short lived to be honest. Now, it's like I received it again and get to feel happy all over again."

"Really?" She looked up into his eyes. Damn, those beautiful blue eyes made his knees weak. She never made eye contact with him as Adrien, so it took all his will power to control and steady himself.

"Yes, really. To know that it wasn't just bought, but painstakingly designed and lovingly made just for me?" He didn't realise, but he had begun walking toward her, being pulled through magnetism. Before he knew it he was towering over her. He lifted his free hand up to brush the back of his fingers over her soft cheeks. Suddenly there was a clattering noise that startled him out of his trance. He had been so out of it he dropped the sketchbook.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me." He laughed nervously, bending down to pick up the book. It had flipped open to a page filled with sketches of Chat Noir, some mid-action poses, some rather intimate and tender portraits. No wonder she hid it from him. He had to hand it to her, she made him look good. When he rose back up he shifted his gaze back to her face. She was looking at the open book, cheeks deep red with a rather distressed look on her face.

 

* * *

 

There was so much wrong with what was happening. The second worst thing being that Adrien had seen her personal drawings of Chat Noir. There was no way to explain those drawings other than knowing him personally. First place for worst thing right now, however, was how close she got to being intimate with someone who wasn't her boyfriend. The sketches only reminded her, made her feel like Chat Noir was watching her right now. She glanced out the window. Nothing. It really felt like he was watching her. Snapping back into reality, Marinette snatched the book out of Adrien's hands and snapped it shut.

 

"Enough perusing for today. How about we get it on- I MEAN, get on with it!" God she was a mess today. She skirted around Adrien, shoving her sketchbook into a desk drawer and stomped over to where she kept her gaming console.

"Actually, do you mind if we skip playing and head over to the cinema? I'm not really feline- feeling it right now."

"Me neither, really." She grabbed her bag and headed for her bedroom door.

 

* * *

 

"We're not sneaking out from the balcony?" He asked, before realising what he said. Whenever he went out with her as Chat Noir, they had to sneak out. Explaining why she was with a superhero would have been a bit much for her parents.

"No, my dad knows we are going to the movies."

"Wait, you told your dad?"

"I try not to lie to them when I can. I...have to lie to them a lot more than I would like. So I try and tell them what I can. He's totally fine with it, if you're worried. He even said he'd cover for us if your driver shows up or Nathalie calls."

Adrien didn't even have anything to say back to that. He couldn't imagine his own father being okay with something like this, let alone helping. He felt a heavy pang of guilt for being a reason for Marinette having to lie to her parents. He followed Marinette downstairs and through the bakery.

"We'll be back after the movie, papa. See you later!"

"See you later sweetie."

"Thank you, sir."

"No worries, kid. Have fun stickin' it to the man! Do kids still say that?" Tom chuckled to himself with a twinkle in his eye.

Marinette's dad was awesome. No wonder she was so close to her parents. They had feelings, and empathy. Her dad barely knew him and he already spoke to Adrien with more warmth than he ever got from his own father his whole life. Once more, as Adrien he didn't put Marinette into a situation where she had to lie to him. Maybe it was a mistake to go after her as Chat Noir. Maybe he should have been brave enough to be with her as Adrien. This date was his chance to find out.

 

His new plan was simple, go to a horror movie so she'll lean into him when she got scared. Share a popcorn so that their hands might accidentally touch. Real textbook date trope stuff. It was working like a charm for a while, but what wasn't a part of his plan was an akuma attack in the middle of the movie. When he could hear screaming coming from the next cinema down, he quickly urged her to hide before rushing up to the projector room.

"Plagg, claws out!"

 

* * *

 

Marinette rolled under the seats much to her own disgust.

"Tikki! Spots on!"

She rolled back out just in time to see the akumatized victim burst into the cinema, busting the wall around the door frame into dust with it's bulking form.

"I AM SINEPHILE! I WILL ABSORB EVERYONES KNOWLEDGE UNTIL I AM THE ONE WHO KNOWS THE MOST ABOUT MOVIES, AND NOBODY WILL CORRECT ME ON A FILM FACT EVER AGAIN!"

God, some of these akumas were weird.

"I've got to credit it to you, you sure know how to enter a scene!" Ladybug turned to see Chat Noir at the top of the stairs on the other side of the room. He was posing triumphantly, really revelling in the moment. She knew he was probably putting on a performance for his princess.

"Unlucky for you, the star of the show has arrived!" He bellowed, thumb gesturing to his chest. The akuma growled and shot a reel of empty film at Chat Noir, which he easily dodged. Unfortunately, it hit a young man who was scrambling to reach the entrance behind Chat. The man turned grey and collapsed, the film that hit him began filling with scenes that Ladybug figured must have been memories.

Chat looked down at the victim, reaching down to check on him, a look of horror on his face. Ladybug could see the akuma pulling back the film, readying himself for his next attack.

"Chat pay attention!" She flung her yo-yo at Sinephile to distract him while Chat Noir had a chance to get to a better vantage point where he wasn't blocking the exit. The akumatized man groaned loudly as the yo-yo hit him square in the forehead. Chat leapt up the side of the wall, perching on top of one of the surround sound speakers.

"Extras off set!" He called down. Seeing the opportunity to leave, the rest of the patrons rushed out the exit.

"Same as usual?" Ladybug called out, eyes on Sinephile, scanning for what might be the akumatized item.

"Yep! Let's stick to the script!" She rolled her eyes. She was very reluctant to admit she was beginning to enjoy his terrible jokes.

"Hey gag reel, how does this sound? Coming to a theatre near you, one badass kick to the face!" Chat Noir goaded before leaping off the wall and crashing into Sinephile's face, foot first. Ladybug darted silently towards the scene to examine for the item. The akuma jumped onto his feet faster that Chat Noir, and with a scream he hurled a fist down toward him. Chat rolled out of the way with impressive speed. Missing his target, Sinephile's fist crushed into the floor, getting stuck in the process. With an effortless kick up Chat was back on his feet.

"Cut! We're going to run that scene again, but this time when you do it don't forget your lines. You're meant to say, "I know now I'll never win. I surrender!" Make sure to say it like Scarlett O'Hara though."

With his free fist, Sinephile swung for Chat, who once again easily dodged. The wide motion however revealed the akumatized item to Ladybug, a movie ticket stub in his shirt pocket. Chat tutted.

"And another thing; you keep missing your mark!" He exclaimed.

Sinephile made another attempt, only this time, Ladybug jumped and pinned his wrist to his trapped arm, slinging her yo-yo to tie the hands together. Now he was vulnerable, Ladybug had a clear opportunity to grab for the item. She reached the ticket and quickly ripped it, a dark purple butterfly bursting out before beginning to flutter away.

"Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug went through her routine of capturing and purifying the akuma and when she was done, a wave of magic bugs swept out, curing the attacked man and repairing the doorway.

"That's a wrap people!" Chat Noir bellowed. There was a low groan coming from the floor. Ladybug looked down to see a fairly young man, most likely in college, huddled on the floor.

"What's happening?" He asked with a croaky voice. Ladybug reached down and helped him up.

"You shouldn't worry so much about being right all the time. In fact, it's a lot easier to go through life being okay with making mistakes. I know from experience, trust me." She counselled.

"You know my lady, I've considered going into acting." Chat Noir interluded. Ladybug sighed.

"I think I'd be purrfect at film noir!" He beamed as he revealed his punchline. Ladybug groaned as she rose to her feet.

"Ooh, the critics were rough on this one." He jokingly winced. Lost in the moment of how much she loved/hated her boyfriend's jokes, she stepped towards him and pulled him into a hug.

"You drive me crazy sometimes." She complained lovingly. She felt his body tense and his breathing get heavy and fast.

_Wait, I'm still Ladybug!_

Ladybug jumped away from Chat Noir and began backing away.

"I'm sorry, I- I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to- I'm sorry!" She stammered. She expecting him to have some sort of remark, but all he did was stare back at her with a wild, confused look in his eyes. The situation becoming too much, she turned and bolted out the exit.

 

* * *

 

Adrien had transformed back into his civilian self, but as he went to leave the projector room his hand stopped halfway to the handle.

"Plagg?" He called out softly. A moment later, Plagg stuck his little head out of Adrien's jacket.

"What is it kid?"

"What was that back there?" Adrien asked.

"I dunno kid. Maybe she's in heat?" Plagg responded half-heartedly.

"Come on Plagg, I'm serious. How long as she been rejecting my advances, and then right out of nowhere, when I wasn't even flirting with her, she gets all cosy with me!"

"I'm serious too! Women can get crazy sometimes, no matter what species. You should count yourself lucky that she snapped out of it before you did something you would regret!" Plagg chatted on.

"I don't agree with that first part you said, but I'm afraid you're right about the second part. I'm not sure what I would have done if she tried anything." He admitted.

"You're welcome! This fountain of knowledge deserves a fountain of cheese!" Plagg exclaimed hungrily. Adrien ignored him, and continued his way out of the projection room.

Out the exit to the cinema, Adrien found Marinette pacing up and down the lobby looking incredibly worried. With the thunk of the door closing, Marinette snapped her face towards the source of the sound and when she saw him her eyes lit up with joy and relief. His stomach flipped. It felt good to have her look at him like that. It also felt good to know he kept her safe.

"Marinette! You're okay!" He cried out, bounding over to her. He figured he should act like he didn't know if she was near the danger or not, so this was as good an opportunity to give her the hug he'd been wanting to give all day. He wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up with a squeeze and a spin. When he put her down, he fought the temptation to leave his arms around her...and lost. Her arms rested on top of his as she looked up at him, bewildered.

"Adrien, were you in there the whole time? I thought you got out?"

"I hid in the projection room. Saw the whole fight." He excused.

"Adrien! That was dangerous! You could have gotten hurt!" She protested angrily. He had to hide a grin. She'd never been brave enough to yell at him as Adrien before. Her expression softened into a sombre one.

"I don't...know what I would have done if something happened to you." She spoke softly, reaching her hands up to gently hold the sides of his face. He instinctively lent into one of her hands and blinked slowly. She was usually very good at making him relax and feel better, but knowing she cared about him as Adrien lit a hearthfire inside his chest. He hadn't felt warmth like this for as long as he could remember.

"I'm sorry, Mari. How can I make it up to you?" He spoke in a low, quiet tone. He could feel a shiver run down her spine, so he knew he nailed the seductive tone. With no will left to control himself he began leaning in for a kiss. Before their lips could meet, he felt a sudden shove against his chest. Marinette had backed away from him, her face beet red and her eyes wide and bouncing around, like she was making a thousand calculations a second.

“We shouldn't do that. I-It's too bright out here with too many people around. You'll get in trouble for sure.” She reasoned, sheepishly. Realising she was right, he sighed.

“Let's head back then. After all this effort I'd hate to get caught now.” And with that, they left the cinema complex in silence.

 

* * *

 

Marinette felt like screaming. She wished she could just tell Adrien that she couldn't kiss him because there was someone else. But then he'd ask why she asked him out in the first place. Also he might ask who it is and she'd have to keep that from him. After all this time pining after him, she finds out that he has feelings for her. But even though she has those feelings back, she can't give him what he wants. Not to mention how stupid she was forgetting she was in her Ladybug disguise while with Chat Noir. Poor thing must be so confused.

_I knew this was a bad idea!_

She spent the walk home trying to come up with something to say that might help the situation, but before she knew it they had arrived at the bakery. Her father was rolling some dough, his strong arms making the work a breeze. He looked up at the sound of the front door opening.

“Wow, that was quick!”

“The movie was cut short. Akuma attack.” Marinette explained.

“Are you two okay?”

“We’re fine. Come on Adrien we should get your books from upstairs while we wait for you to get picked up.”

Marinette was ascending the stairs before Tom had a chance to say another word.

“Is she really okay?” She heard her father say to Adrien.

 

* * *

 

“It was pretty hectic during the attack. She’s probably just tired. I should check on her and make sure she's okay just in case though.” Adrien said in attempt to ease Tom's concern.

“You're a good kid. I hope she keeps you around.” Tom commented with a warm smile, before returning to the dough he was rolling. Just like that, Adrien seemed to have approval from Marinette's father. Adrien grinned to himself as he made his way up to Marinette's room. It was so...easy. He entered Marinette's room to see she had already picked up the pile of the books. When she noticed him enter, she paced quickly to him and held the books out for him. As he took them, he made sure that his hands brushed against hers.

“You can relax Mari; my ride isn't here yet. We have time.” He held the books with one arm and with the other guided her to sit on the chaise with him. After putting the books to the side, he turned his full attention to Marinette, sliding his hand around hers. He could see her cheeks flushing a sweet pink.

“I'm really glad you asked me out. I have to admit I was too nervous to ask you out for a while-"

“WHAT?! I mean, what do you mean? I always got the impression that you never really noticed me.” Marinette travelled from yelling to mumbling with her usual madness, turning redder as she spoke. It was clear that before this date, Marinette had no idea he had feelings for her, to the point where she thought he never even saw her. Apparently he was too good at wearing a mask.

_Time to open up._

“Of course I noticed you, Mari. To be honest the only thing stopping me from asking you out was the fear that if you turned me down I'd lose you as a friend too.” He admitted, looking away. It was terrifying revealing so much, but he knew how important honesty was to her. He looked up to see Marinette deep in thought, processing the information she was given.

“I...had no idea. That my friendship meant that much to you...or you felt that way. But, I'm having trouble believing that you thought I could turn you down. I can't imagine a world where I'd say no to you.” Marinette thought out loud. She glanced over, eyes locking with his before going wide with surprise.

“I mean, you're important to me too. I mean-"

Before she could finish stammering, Adrien leant in to her, catching her lips with his in a kiss he'd been holding in all day. A soft, breathy gasp escaped Marinette, forcing Adrien's heart to skip a beat. He brought a hand up to her neck and his other to her waist. He felt her clasp one hand to the front of his shirt and one to his arm as she kissed him back fervently. As he felt her lean further into him, he felt the rest of the world fade away and for a brief moment, they were the only things that existed in the universe. After what could have been a few moments or a few centuries, Adrien pulled away and looked at her face. Her eyes blinked slowly as if in a trance, her pouted lips parted slightly as she drew breathe. It was strange; when they kissed before when he was being Chat Noir it was always energetic and playful. But now, it felt warm and hungry, like a home-cooked meal after a long, exhausting fast. Maybe it was also a sensation of release, which Adrien could only attribute to spending so long hiding himself.

“Marinette, Adrien's driver is here.” Boomed a voice from downstairs. Suddenly in a dizzying wave the whole world existed again. Marinette immediately released him, and he bolted to his feet, smoothing his shirt and wiping away the beads of sweat that were forming on his forehead. He paced to the door and paused before doubling back to the bed to pick up the text books again. He contemplated sneaking a kiss, but knew if he did he may never leave. Looking at her, he could see she hadn't moved a muscle since he and pulled away from their kiss, still under it's hypnotic spell.

“See you at school tomorrow.” He said with a smile, before swiftly striding out the room.

 

* * *

 

Marinette sat quietly at the dinner table, spaced out and staring at the wall. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before her mother cleared her throat, snapping her back to reality.

“Your father tells me you had that Adrien boy over today. That he was a very nice young man. Is there anything I should know about?” Sabine inquired, a glint of excitement barely concealed in her eye.

“I...don't know yet, Maman.” Marinette sighed. Truth is, Marinette really had no idea. When Adrien kissed her, all she could think of was Chat Noir. Both in the way that kissing Adrien reminded her of kissing Chat Noir, but also the heartsinking feeling of guilt that she was kissing someone else. It was such a confusing blend of feeling right and wrong, amazing and horrifying that she became overwhelmed with emotions and could no longer process what happened and what it meant.

“Did it not go well?” Sabine asked with sympathetic concern.

“The boy left pretty happy, so it looked like it went well.” Tom chuckled, leading Sabine to playfully slap him on the arm.

"Come on, Tom! You're embarrassing our daughter." She said in a tone that lead Marinette to believe that she didn't really want her dad to stop.

Marinette's phone began buzzing, shifting itself slowly across the dining table. It was Ayla. Marinette leant forward to reject the call.

"You can be excused from the dining table to go talk to Ayla in your room. I'm sure she can't wait to hear about today." Sabine offered with a warm, understanding smile.

"Thank you, maman." Marinette responded, giving her best attempt at a smile back, before heading up to her room. Looking at her phone, she hit reject call. She couldn't bring herself to talk to Ayla at that moment. She would be too excited to find out what happened, and wouldn't understand why Marinette was so upset, as the reason she couldn't explain was the same reason she was in this mess. Needing some fresh air, Marinette quickly climbed her way up onto her balcony. As she stepped forward to the railing, she heard a soft thud behind her. She turned to see Chat Noir rising from his landing crouch position to his full height. She figured he had been waiting for her to come out here. He had a big, dopey grin on his face, so he didn't seem mad about what happened with Adrien.

Maybe he didn't stick around after the fight after all...maybe he doesn't know.

"So, how'd your date go?" He asked playfully as he prowled his way over to her.

"You said you'd be watching, so you tell me." She responded coyly, trying not to show all her cards.

"Looked like you had fun from where I was standing. Who would have thought the Agreste kid would be such a romantic." he teased, reaching up to play with a loose strand of her hair. Annoyed, she swatted his hand away.

"Please don't make fun of him, I already feel awful enough." Marinette groaned. She looked her at him to see a confused expression wash over his face.

"Even though the date wasn't real, I felt like I was betraying you. With every touch I felt like I was breaking your heart, scared that you could see how much I was enjoying every minute of it." She admitted. Before long, a satisfied smirk replaced his confused expression, looking like he had just won an argument.

"What do you think of your little crush now?"

Marinette was speechless. He figured out Adrien was her crush? How long did he know? Is that why he planned for her to go on a date with Adrien; to test if she would stay loyal? It seemed too cruel for someone like Chat Noir to do, but looking at his dark smirk, she was becoming less and less convinced he wouldn't sink that low.

"Y-you knew? This whole time you knew I had a crush on Adrien, and you still did this to me?" She questioned, tears welling in her eyes.

 

* * *

 

Chat Noir dropped his smile. He was too shocked to even try to get her to repeat what she just said to make sure he heard right.

_I was her crush this whole time?_

All those times he tried to talk to her and all she did was stammer and talk nonsense, it wasn't because she had a shy personality, it was because she liked him. Every time he'd see her and she'd hide, it wasn't because she hated him, it was...

_...because she liked me._

He couldn't believe it. After spending so much time worrying that she would never accept him, he's found out that she had already accepted him, and had been waiting for him all along. As the revelation dawned on him, his elation couldn't be contained any more. He smiled with delight as he looked upon the emotional face of the girl who had always wanted him. As he looked, her eyes widened with fear.

"Oh god, you're actually smiling? Are you enjoying this?" She exclaimed through tears, snapping Chat Noir back into the moment.

"Wait, no! It's not what you think!" He attempted to defend himself.

"What is it, then?" She asked, backing away towards the trap door. He opened and shut his mouth a few times, attempting to make words come out of it. He couldn't think of any excuse other than the truth.

_I am Adrien and I'm a huge idiot._

But he couldn't expose his secret identity to Marinette. It would put her in too much danger, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if she got hurt because of him.

"I can't explain. Not yet, anyway."

"Until you can, I don't want to see you here again." She stated, her voice low and serious. With that, she dropped herself inside, locking the trap door behind her.

_I could not have messed this up more if I had tried._


	4. We All Wear Masks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this chapter took a bit of a wild turn. I had something else planned but when I went to write it, this just happened? Anyway, I decided to roll with it, so hopefully my possessed mind has created something that's somewhat enjoyable.

Chapter 4.

 

"I don't get why you're so keen to see Marinette today, kid. Didn't she say she never wants to see you again last night?" Plagg mumbled as he strategised how to fit as much of his wheel of cheese into his mouth in one bite. Adrien tutted.

"No, she said that to Chat Noir, not Adrien. This is my second chance with her." He explained as he did up his sneakers.

"Uh huh...and if she gets mad at you as Adrien, are you going to come up with a third alter ego so you can keep talking to her?" Plagg joked, before opening his tiny jaw as big as it will go and shoving his face directly through the layer of wax around the camembert. Adrien paused to think. During the date, he came on really strong to Marinette without thinking about how she felt, not knowing how much she was struggling at the time. The reason she was upset wasn't just Chat Noir's fault; it was also Adrien's. He rose to his feet and took a deep breath. It was more important than ever that he make it up to Marinette.

Adrien made it to class relatively early, hoping Marinette would also be there and they'd have a chance to talk before everyone else arrived. Disappointment washed over him as eventually everyone but Marinette trickled into the room. When the bell rang, he had all but given up when there was a creak at the door. Adrien whipped his head back up towards the door to see Marinette frozen like a deer in headlights looking back at him. After a moment, her posture slumped and she dragged her feet up to her seat, looking very defeated.

"For someone who finally has Adrien's attention you sure are acting like you don't want it." He heard Alya whisper fairly loudly. Did those two always talk about him that obviously and he just never noticed?

"Alya!" He heard Marinette whisper through clenched teeth. He fought back a smile as he imagined the cute little embarrassed expression Marinette was making. The idea of this kind of conversation having happening fairly regularly amused him to no end. The fact that Marinette had been so bad at trying to ask him out all this time certainly made him feel better about chickening out so many times. It was like they were made for each other. He suddenly felt a nudge come from beside him.

"Dude, did you forget how roll call works again?" Nino whispered.

"Present!" Adrien blurted out, leading the other students to giggle.

"Adrien, while I appreciate that you are physically here, I'll appreciate it even more if you were also mentally present too." Mme Bustier remarked, before continuing down the roll.

* * *

 

When the bell rang for lunch break, Marinette grimaced. She wasn't looking forward to trying to sneak past Adrien without him trying to talk to her. Despite her conversation with Chat Noir last night, she wasn't sure if she was still in a relationship with him or not, so she had no idea how to approach talking to Adrien. Should she turn him down as nicely as she could, or should she move on from Chat Noir and start a relationship with the boy of her dreams? Tikki agreed with her before school that Marinette would need more time to make the right decision, but also pointed out it would be mean to avoid him after he poured his heart out to her. It was quite the dilemma. Marinette began packing up as quickly as she could.

"Okay Marinette if you rush out of here without telling me anything about yesterday I'm gonna scream." Alya threatened. She looked down to see Adrien had already packed up and was now seemingly trapped in a conversation with Chloe.

_This might be my only chance. Sorry Alya._

Marinette leapt up out of her seat and paced quickly to the door. Unfortunately she had to walk very close to Adrien and Chloe to get past, but it was either that or get around Alya, which was way riskier.

"How was your charity date with Marinette? Was she as pathetic as usual? I don't understand why you wouldn't want someone with more...grace." Chloe complained, secretly putting her foot in Marinette's path at the last second. In a turn of events that surprised nobody, Marinette tripped and her books went flying. She winced as she anticipated a painful thunk to the ground, but instead of meeting the hard cold floor, she felt soft warm arms wrap around her, catching her fall. She felt herself being hoisted back up to her feet and be spun around to come face to face with Adrien.

"Marinette! I've been meaning to catch up with you." He said with a laugh. The last thing she needed was to be reminded of Chat Noir right now. Marinette went to pull away from him, but his grip tightened.

"Wait! I meant- I want talk to you about yesterday. I wanted to apologise for how I acted." He revealed, his tone becoming more serious. Marinette blinked in confusion.

"Why would you need to-"

"Because I basically forced myself onto you yesterday without even checking if that's what you wanted. I was only thinking about how I felt without thinking about how it affected you. It probably made you really uncomfortable, and for that I am really sorry." As he spoke, the people in the room who were paying attention to the interaction were all stunned. But Marinette didn't care about that right now. All she cared about was the boy in front of her, once again pouring out his heart to her. He must have been able to sense she was feeling bad yesterday and had been blaming himself for it. Adrien was truly the kindest, most considerate guy she had ever met. In that moment, she had no doubts that she wanted to be with him. She reached a hand up to hold the side of his face. His hands lowered from her shoulders to her waist. His eyes closed as she softly rubbed the apple of his cheek with her thumb. Ignoring the deja vu, Marinette gently pulled his head down to her level, closing her eyes too before placing a delicate, but loving kiss on his lips. When she pulled away and opened her eyes, she found Adrien staring at her with wide eyes and a slow forming grin. Her brain kicked in, registering that she just kissed Adrien. Of course, she knew she kissed him back yesterday when he had kissed her, but this was different. She had initiated it. This was what she had been wishing she was brave enough to for so long, and she had done it in front of everyone.

"I- er..." She began stuttering, but stopped when she heard Adrien laugh quietly to himself. He pulled her closer in towards his body and leant down, taking her into another kiss. Marinette felt her entire body relax, sinking into his embrace, grateful that he managed to hold her body weight with no issue. Nothing could stop this moment, or so Marinette thought. When the sound of a woman clearing her throat came from the doorway, Adrien peeled himself from Marinette faster than Marinette felt was possible. She turned to see Nathalie, Adrien's father's assistant.

"Your father would like to have lunch with you today. Grab your things and leave immediately." Nathalie instructed, not seeming phased by what she had walked in on. Panicked, Adrien grabbed what he had dropped to catch Marinette and rushed out the door. The second he was out of sight, Chloe shrieked.

"How dare you! Adrikins was mine and you took him from me!" She screamed angrily in Marinette's face.

"I owe it all to you Chloe. None of this would have happened if you didn't keep deliberately sabotaging me. I'll make sure to thank you at our wedding." Marinette quipped at her. She could almost see the fumes coming off of her.

"Just you wait until I tell daddy-"

"What's he going to do; buy you a lovable personality?" Alya interjected, finally making her way to the front of the classroom. Laughter errupted from everyone in the room, except Chloe. When Chloe began stifling back tears, Marinette stopped laughing.

_We shouldn't get her akumatized just because she's jealous._

At that very moment, an akuma fluttered in through the open window.

"Chloe, look out!" Marinette warned, leaping in between the akuma and Chloe. Marinette quickly surveyed the area for something she could use to trap the akuma until she could turn into Ladybug.

_Pencil case? No. Gym shoes? Definitely no. Coffee Thermos? Perfect._

Marinette lunged for the Thermos, unscrewing the lid as she jumped back in between the akuma and it's victim. After a few flailing misses, Marinette eventually caught the akuma and tightened the lid. She braced herself in case the akuma managed to take over the container. When nothing happened she ler out a big sigh of relief. Now all she had to do was get away and transform so she can purify it.

_I can't believe that worked! It feels too easy..._

“Dude! Awesome work Marinette!” Nino cheered, followed by the various sounds of agreed sentiment from the rest of the room.

“Ugh, big deal. Anyone can catch a dumb little butterfly.” Chloe whined, frantically rubbing her eyes in an attempt to wipe away any evidence that she had cried.

“That's a great way to treat someone who just saved you from being akumatized.” Alya snapped at her.

“Even if I did need saving, it was only because of how Marinette treated me! You're all cheering a bully!” Chloe accused, jabbing her finger at Marinette's chest. She hated to admit it, but Chloe was right. She knew Chloe liked Adrien and would be upset and decided to rub it in her face instead of being considerate of her feelings.

“I'm sorry, Chloe. I should go find Ladybug and give her this akuma to purify.” Marinette said meekly, turning to the door. Before she could take a step, she felt a hand grab her shoulder.

“Oh no you don't! I'm Ladybug's biggest, most trusted fan; I should take it to her!” Chloe complained, pulling on Marinette's shoulder and reaching for the Thermos.

“Wait Chloe! Don't touch it! The akuma was after you, so you could still get turned if it touches something you're touching!” Marinette gasped, jumping away out of Chloe's reach.

“Ugh! Okay! Anyone but you, then. I can't stand the idea of Ladybug thanking you when this was all your fault in the first place!” Chloe bargained. Marinette sighed.

“You're right. Alya, how about you find Ladybug? You are the leading expert!” Marinette suggested with her best attempt at a cheery smile. She handed the Thermos to Alya, and continued to leave the room.

“Marinette, you can't let a hypocrite like her-" She heard Alya start to say, before she was too far out of the room to hear. Marinette took off in a sprint, not stopping until she had found a secure hiding spot far away enough from the classroom to avoid suspicion.

“Tikki, I know what you're going to say. _It's irresponsible of you to go around akumatizing people when it's your job to help people._ I just got so sick of the way she talks down to me.” Marinette ranted.

“It's important to stand up for yourself, but you know there is a line between that and revenge. Now let's finish the job, okay?” Tikki advised, just as warmly as ever.

“Tikki, spots on!”

After feeling like she had waited a long enough time after seeing Alya post on her blog for Ladybug to come to the school, Ladybug swung from a nearby building to the front entrance to the school. She expected to see Alya there, but she wasn't expecting such a panicked expression on her face. When Ladybug landed, Alya whipped her head towards her and rushed over. It was then she noticed she was empty-handed.

“Alya, what happened to the akuma? Did it escape?” She questioned, scanning the area for the dark butterfly.

“Yes, and it's all Chloe's fault! When I was trying to bring it to you after my amazing friend Marinette caught it, Chloe kept trying to take it off me. Eventually she knocked it out of my hands and the container broke and it got out! I tried to see where it went but I blinked and it was gone!” Alya explained in a worried huff. Ladybug groaned.

“I knew it wasn't going to be that easy.” She complained. Ladybug ran inside, quickly surveying the interior of the school and the students. Everything seemed in order, so she went back out the front.

“Keep an eye out here for it, I'm going to search the area.” Ladybug ordered Alya, before whipping her yo-yo to a nearby roof and zipping off.

* * *

 

Adrien fiddled with his hands nervously as he sat in the back of the travelling car. He glanced over at Nathalie, who was concentrating on her tablet. She hadn't spoken a word since they got in the car, and the silence was unbelievably uncomfortable.

“You're not going to say anything to father, are you?” He asked with a quiet voice.

“I don't think that would help anyway.” She sighed tiredly, without looking away from her screen.

_Father already found out? I'm totally screwed..._

Adrien slumped in his seat, glancing out the window. If he knew his father at all, he was sure to be banned from going to school again, and from seeing Marinette. His mind was whirring away, trying to think of an excuse that would get him out of trouble, when a glint of red caught his eye. He perked up and his heart skipped a beat.

_My Lady!_

He winced at the thought. He had told himself a thousand times to stop pining over Ladybug since she told him there was someone else. Not to mention he was in love with Marinette now and shouldn't have room for two leading ladies in his heart. Yet, as he watched her swing over the roof tops, he couldn't help but feel drawn to her. He watched her drop gracefully next to a large chimney and slump to the ground. Before he could realise what was happening, there was a flash of pink light. When it faded, he gasped.

_Ladybug is Marinette?_

Adrien felt like his brain was exploding as the magic that stopped him from recognising her broke and memories of clues and indications all flooded his mind at once. Always late or missing, always standing up for what's right and trying to help, she even had the same hair and eyes in and out of transformation. He felt so stupid having had looked at her every day for so long and not recognising her. He knew how strong the magic was from first hand experience, but still. Then, another thought occurred to him.

_Wait, if Ladybug turned me down because she loved someone else, and she is Marinette, and Marinette was in love with me, that means...she turned me down for me?_

As the absurdity dawned on him, he burst out laughing. That's twice now that he had been insanely jealous of himself. If only Ladybug had known then who he really was, then they could have been together sooner.

“Adrien, is everything okay?” Adrien twisted away from the window back to Nathalie. She had finally looked up from the tablet and was watching him with confusion and caution. He laughed again.

“Yep, everything is purrfect.” He responded, returning his eyes to the window.

“Whatever your mind is doing to deal with the stress, you better calm down before you see your father.” She warned, causing him to snap out of it.

_I forgot about that._

Before Adrien could return to panicking, the distant sounds of screaming rung through the air getting closer and closer. Hearing it too, Nathalie jerked to attention. She stuck her head out her window scanning the area.

“Something is coming but traffic isn't moving. We'll have to get away on foot.” She rationalized. But by the time she finished talking, Adrien was already out the door.

* * *

 

“It's no good, Tikki. How am I meant to find one little butterfly in an entire city?” Marinette complained, catching her breath as she leant against the chimney. Before Tikki had time to respond, a burst of screams interrupted the moment. Marinette jolted to her feet and rushed to the edge of the roof. The screaming sounded like it was getting closer and closer.

“Well, that might help. Tikki, spo-" Marinette was cut short by a thud behind her. She whipped around to come face to face with Chloe. Her appearance hadn't changed, but there was something sinister about her expression.

“Chloe, what are y-"

“I am not Chloe. I am Façade. I've been looking for you Marinette. I think it's time peohutple see just how two-faced you really are!” She exclaimed, two voices booming at once. She flicked her sunglasses down over her eyes, and with that movement her entire appearance shifted into an ancient roman ceremonial toga that was half white and gold, half black and silver.

“Chloe wait, you don't have to do this.” Marinette began attempting to reason with her. With a hiss, Façade lunged at Marinette, tackling her off the roof. They shot over the street and through a glass window into a boutique homeware store. Hitting the floor, Marinette gasped and wheezed in pain. Normally when something like this happened she was Ladybug, and her suit and powers helped her take less damage. Being completely vulnerable, she was in excruciating pain. She rolled over and looked at Façade, who was talking to the Hawk Moth symbol in front of her face. Marinette used this as an opportunity to crawl out of her line of sight and hide.  She had made it to the back side of a love seat lounge by the time Façade had noticed she was gone.

“Marinette! Where are you?” Façade sung, footsteps crunching over broken glass.

“Tikki, spots on!” Marinette whispered. A moment passed and nothing changed.

“Tikki?” Marinette looked down into her bag to see it was empty.

_Oh no! Tikki must have fallen out in the collision! I have to find her!_

Marinette listened to the sound of Façade's footsteps, making sure to crawl in the opposite direction. She had almost made it past the mirror at the front of the store when she heard a sickening laugh. There was a whoosh overhead and in an instant Façade was blocking her path out onto the street.

“Did you think I'd let you get away?” She bellowed, her double voice just as haunting as the first time she spoke with it. Façade lifted her hands to the side of her sunglasses, which then began to glow a bright red before shooting out a solid stream of light at Marinette. Reflexively, Marinette grabbed the closest thing she could and used it to shield herself.

* * *

 

Having gotten away from the car and into a hiding spot, Adrien had become Chat Noir and had run back out onto the street. Expecting a path of destruction from where the screams had come from, he was surprised to see people just yelling and running from what appeared to be just other people, calling out and asking them to stop. He nearly tripped on a set of twins who were violently wrestling on the ground. One looked terrified and was crying, and the other looked aggressive and furious. Chat Noir stepped in and forced them apart.

“I'm sensing a twin-ge of disagreement between you boys.” Chat Noir joked.

“You're not real! I hate you!” Screamed the aggressive man. The scared one yelped and sprinted away down the street.

“What the-" Chat Noir started to say, before he heard a scream from a familiar voice followed by a horribly loud crash.

“Marinette!” He exclaimed, pivoting towards the sound of her scream and taking off. He rounded a corner into an alleyway where he could see a store front with a smashed window. He was about to run towards the store when a thought crossed his mind.

_This is usually when Ladybug stops me from running in and comes up with a plan._

Chat Noir stuck to the shadows of the alley, surveying the situation. Prowling inside the store was the akumatized victim. They appeared to be a young woman in a mismatched toga with dark purple sunglasses. Low to the ground, he saw Marinette covered in shards of glass and smears of blood covering her body. He gasped in shock and fear, scared of how hurt she looked. In a second the akumatized victim had jumped between him and Marinette, blocking his view. He started running and opened his mouth to yell a distraction when there was a bright burst of light from the akumatized victim. An instantly later, the victim was dodging madly to the side. Once out of the way, he could see Marinette holding a mirror, and a beam of light aiming right at him. As the light hit him, he felt a pain so sharp inside of him that it felt like there was an earthquake inside of him, ripping him apart.

Chat Noir gasped himself awake, rolling onto his side to push himself back onto his feet. He clung to his stomach as he coughed in pain. He had been blasted backwards down the alley away from the victim and Marinette. As he took a step back towards the store, he heard a small groan come from the ground beside him. There was a figure collapsed on the ground, struggling to breath.

“Are you okay?” Chat Noir asked, reaching down offering a hand. The figure rolled over to reveal his face and Chat Noir recoiled.

_It's...me?_

He looked down at the face of Adrien Agreste, which looked back up at him with wide, horrified eyes. This had to be the work of the akumatized victim. Some sort of illusion projection, shapeshifting, maybe even hallucinations. The Adrien in front of him rolled his eyes.

“Great, another copy cat.” He groaned. The boy in front of Chat Noir reached behind his back, a look of panic spreading over his face as he found nothing. Chat Noir followed the boys line of vision to his staff.

“Give that back! This cat doesn't like sharing his toys.” He demanded, jolting up and reaching for Chat's staff. Chat propelled himself backward and out of reach. The boy growled, before noticing his own hand. A look of panic washed over his face as he looked down and examined himself.

“Not feline like yourself today? Whatever your deal is, I don't have time for it. I have a beautiful lady to rescue.” Chat Noir called out, turning back and running toward the store. If that was meant to be a distraction for him, it worked. Back on the street where Marinette had been, he scanned up and down the street for her. The akumatized victim had a similar idea and was throwing bins and postal boxes that she thought Marinette could be hiding behind.

“Hey you! Didn't anybody tell you togas are so two millennia ago?” He taunted in an attempt to distract her from her search. The victim twitched, before twisting around and shooting another blast at him. Easily dodging this time, he leapt onto a bus shelter and used the momentum to kick off of it, flying towards the akumatized victim. He extended his staff and spun through the air before thwacking her on the back, sending her flying far down the street.

“Marinette?” He called out desperately, whipping his eyes back and forth for her. A building over, a door quietly creaked open, a cautious Marinette limping out. When their eyes meet, they both smile.

“Marinette! I was so scared that you- you know...” Tears welled in his eyes as he spoke, walking with shaky nervous steps towards his love. She looked as if she were about to say something when something behind him seemed to catch her eye.

“Stay away from her!” He heard his own voice shout furiously.

_Oh boy._

Chat Noir turned to once again find himself face to face with what appeared to be Adrien Agreste. It was weird seeing his own face twisted in such an angry expression. It was even weirder to be dodging attacks from himself.

“Adrien, stop! What are you doing?” Marinette cried out. Now Chat was mad. This guy was making him look like a violent, jealous idiot in front of Marinette.

“Marinette, it's hard to explain but that's not Adrien. The akuma made some sort of double.” Chat Noir explained, holding his double back with his staff.

“No! I won't let you trick her when you're the fake running around!” The double yelled before flicking a wrist up and after a series of arm movements and spins, he grabbed Chat's staff and flipped him over his shoulder and pinned him to the ground. The double leaned in close to his face.

“What did you do with Plagg?” He interrogated through gritted teeth.

“What? How do you know abo-"

“Adrien, get off of him!” Chat couldn't see Marinette, but he could hear in her voice how distressed she was. He didn't blame her. From her perspective this would have looked like the two guys she loved were fighting over her. Chat Noir could easily get out of this hold, but he wasn't sure if he could do it without hurting the other guy. Chat hated the idea of upsetting her even more than he already has. Judging by the look on his double's face, he also hated seeing her upset.

“Yes, Adrikins! Let out your nasty side! Grab that nasty cat's Miraculous for me, will ya?” Boomed an eerily familiar voice from the akumatized victim, who was making her way back to them. It sounded like Chloe, but like she was speaking with two voices, and very creepy.

_Chloe must have been akumatized after I left the room. Was it because of what I did?_

He looked up at his double, who looked very confused and disturbed.

“Nasty side? What are you talking abou-” In his confusion, the double's grip had loosened just enough for Chat to break free without causing him serious harm. He sent him stumbling back before using a kick up to get back on his feet.

“Don't think for a minute that you're taking my Miraculous to Hawk Moth, Chloe!” Chat Noir shouted defiantly.

“It's Façade!” She screamed, blasting him with her beam of light. Once again, it hit him directly in the chest, flinging him away from the scene. He plummeted into the side of a building, slowly sliding down to the ground.

“She sure does hit faç-hard.” He ground to himself. Façade gave a frustrated shriek.

“Hawk Moth, the stupid powers you gave me aren't working. It didn't do anything to him!” She complained loudly.

“What didn't work now?” Chat pondered.

“I think I know, Chat Noir.” A tiny voice chirped from a crack in the wall. As he peered in, a small red creature peeked out at him.

_Ladybug's Kwami?_

“From what I saw of the people she attacked, her beam of light seems to split people from their disguise selves. It didn't work on you now because you were already hit.” She explained softly. Chat Noir looked from her to his double.

“So that's not a fake, that's really me? Or rather, half of me?” He looked back to see the little Kwami nodding. She was so cute. Perfect for his lady.

“If you're over here, Marinette can't transform. I'll get the other me and we'll cause a distraction for her to get away.” Chat planned. Tikki gasped a little in shock at Chat mentioning that he knows Ladybug's identity, but shook it off before jumping onto the back of his head, attempting to hide in his messy blonde locks. Chat ran back to Marinette and Adrien. Façade was still distracted talking to Hawk Moth, so he had at least a little time.

“Adrien I don't have enough time to explain why you can trust me, but right now you need to. If you pretend you're trying to take my Miraculous and we make a big scene, it should be enough of a distraction for Marinette to escape.” Chat ordered, keeping his voice low. He felt a weight lift off of the back of his head, shortly followed by a gasp of relief from Marinette. As she shuffled off quickly around the nearest corner, his other self went to follow her instinctively. Chat reached out and grabbed him by the arm.

“Please, my plan needs both halves of our coin to work. Besides, if you go with her, she won’t want to transform in front of you and we need Ladybug right now to end this fight.” Chat whispered urgently. Adrien furrowed his brows, looking like he was making a thousand calculations a second.

“Man, it’s weird watching myself think. I thought I’d look smarter or something.” Chat thought out loud, grinning knowingly. An unmistakeable expression of dawning realisation spread over Adrien’s face. Quickly, the expression dropped and was replaced by one of fake anger.

“Give me your Miraculous, Chat Noir! You’re not good enough to be a super hero, or for my Lady’s love!” He bellowed loudly. This snapped Façade out of her argument with Hawk Moth.

“Yes, Adrikins! Fight him for me! We can serve Hawk Moth together and he can give us what we always wanted!” Façade cheered.

Adrien lunged at Chat Noir, and they began the last karate sparring sequence they had learnt. As Adrien swung a flat palm towards him, Chat would redirect his force and push him to the side.  With only a subtle tap on the hip as warning, Adrien spun into a kick, stopping short of half an inch as Chat flung himself onto his back. With a quick kick up, he was back on his feet and the pair began circling each other. Chat delighted at how easy staged fight choreography was when performing it with himself.

“Okay boys, break it up. Chat and I have work to do.” Chat turned to see Ladybug wielding both her spinning yo-yo and a fatigued expression. He’d been so caught up in his fake fight he hadn’t even heard her land.

“My Lady!” Chat beamed. He turned back to his civilian self.

“You heard the lady, Adrien. We’ve got it from here, so go take cover somewhere.” He instructed. His other self frowned, eyes darting between Chat Noir and Ladybug.

“But…I want to help.” He protested. There was a shriek from Façade.

“Y-you tricked me?! How dare you!” She screamed, lunging toward Adrien. Suddenly, an unseen force pulled her back and slammed her onto the ground.

“Hawk Moth, what on earth are you doing?” She questioned, still screaming.

“Adrien, please. Marinette would kill me if I let something happen to you.” Chat pleaded, subtly gesturing his head towards Ladybug. Adrien sighed, then darted back to the alley he’d come from. In perfect timing, Façade ended her telepathic conversation with Hawk Moth.

“Fine, I’ll focus on these two.” She confirmed, charging up her light blast before aiming it towards Ladybug, who barely dodged it.

“Don’t let it hit you, Ladybug. You’ll get a splitting headache.” He warned, unable to hold back a smirk at his pun. His smiled dropped when she grunted in pain.

“I don’t have many more dodges in me, Chat Noir.” She admitted with a groan. In a leaping bound, Chat sprung between Ladybug and Façade.

“Don’t worry, Buginette. I’ll cover you until you come up with a plan to stop Two-Face over here.” He reassured, trying not to react to the thought of how close ‘Buginette’ was to ‘Marinette’.

“If she was willing to hurt Adrien, she could hurt anyone. I need to pull out the big guns and end this. Lucky Charm!” As she tossed her yo-yo into the air, a burst of light shone for a moment, before a hand mirror dropped down into Ladybug’s hands.

“What am I meant to do with this? Distract her with her vanity?” Ladybug joked, before ducking to avoid another blast. Chat Noir gasped in realisation. Quickly, he grabbed Ladybug by the waist and vaulted onto a nearby roof.

“When Façade shot at you – I mean, Marinette…and she reflected it with a mirror, Façade dodged out of the way. Surely that’s a sign she’s not immune to her own power?” Chat reasoned out loud.

“I made a joke and you figured out a plan? I’m not sure I like this dynamic shift.” Ladybug groaned.

“We must be rubbing off on each other.” Chat said with a wink, pulling her in closer. He expected her to push away like she usually does, but this time she offers no resistance.

_She must still have feelings for me as Chat Noir! When we get out of this there’s no way I can hide the truth from her any more._

* * *

 

Ladybug leant into Chat Noir’s embrace. Feeling weaker by the minute, she needed all the help she could get to stay on her feet. It also helped that despite they’re fight last night, she longed to be in his arms. A pang of guilt hit her in the gut. She pushed up off of Chat, steadying herself. She can’t keep yo-yoing between Chat and Adrien. It wasn’t fair to either of them. Seeing both of them at the same time earlier gave her the sensation of vertigo which she could only blame on her confusing emotions. She couldn’t let those feelings distract her now.

“We don’t have time for this. We have a fight to finish. I’ve got the mirror, so I’ll pull focus while you go for the akuma. I know just how to make her angry enough to not notice you.” She directed. Chat Noir looked as if he were about to argue, but seemed to let it go before hopping off the roof. Behind Ladybug there was a thud. She turned to see Façade panting, with a mad look on her face.

“There you are, you pathetic insect! Is that stupid alley cat with you?” She grunted.

“I’ll tell you where Chat Noir is, but first I have a confession to make to you. Adrien and Marinette aren’t really together.”

“What?” Façade shrieked.

“It was just a front to help hide his real relationship. You see, Adrien is really in love with me!” Ladybug confessed dramatically. Façade screamed, her dual voice becoming more terrifying than ever. She reached up to her glasses and charged up another blast, shooting it directly at Ladybug. With lightning fast reflexes, Ladybug held up the mirror in front of her, shielding herself from the blast, which bounced back towards Façade, throwing her off the roof. Ladybug limped forward as fast as she could, and looking down on the ground below she saw two figures collapsed on the ground; Façade and Chloe.

The pair on the ground stirred as consciousness returned to them both. As Chloe woke up, she immediately began crying.

“W-What’s going on?” She cried out. She looked over at Façade and gasped.

“Who are you?” Chloe asked through tears. Façade groaned as she rose to her feet.

“You snivelling child! Why couldn’t you stay hidden?” She growled.

“Chloe run!” Ladybug called out. Before Chloe could react, Façade swooped towards her, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up.

“You make us weak. When I destroy you, I’ll finally be free!” She bellowed victoriously. Out of seemingly nowhere, Chat Noir lunged at Façade. Noticing just in time, Façade whipped around and grabbed Chat’s staff with her free hand.

“Paws off. You can’t stop me!” She said through gritted teeth. Seeing Façade with both hands occupied, Ladybug used the opportunity to fling her yo-yo at her face, smacking it right in the middle of her glasses. As they snapped, a little purple butterfly fluttered out and toward the sky.

“No more evil doing for you little akuma.” Ladybug activated her cleansing ability, grunting as she flung her yo-yo once more, this time catching the akuma mid-flight. After completing the cleansing she waved goodbye to the akuma.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” She called out, throwing the mirror into the air as it burst into a swarm of ladybugs which swept out, magically fixing everything that was broken in the battle. She felt them radiate over her body as it healed. Feeling brand new, she hopped down from the roof toward Chat Noir and the recently cured Chloe. Ladybug lifted her hand for their traditional fist bump, but was stopped when the bugs washed over Chat. Once they were done, he winced and grabbed his head.

“Chat Noir! Are you okay?” She asked, voice wavering with concern. He shook his head as if snapping out of something. He looked back at her and smiled.

“No need to worry, m’lady. I was just…collecting myself.” He responded, his smile twisting into a Cheshire grin. Whatever joke he was making, she didn’t get it. She sighed with relief. Even if she didn’t understand what he was saying, it seemed like he was the same old Chat Noir that she loved. She flinched in realisation.

“Adrien!” She gasped, looking around for any sign of the young model. Chat Noir flailed, before grabbing her by the shoulders.

“I’m sure he’s fine. I’ll go find him and make sure, but you should head back to school. I’m sure Alya is worried about you.” He reasoned with her. She froze. Why did he think Alya would be worried about her? The look that washed over his face told her that he did not mean to say what he said.

“I mean – She is your biggest fan so she must be worried every time you go into a fight, not just this time, because an akuma was after you – I mean, you’re not her best friend or anything…” He rambled, his eyes going wild with stress.

_He knows who I am._

“Don’t know what you’re talking about but…I better get Chloe back to school! Yes, I’m sure everyone is worried about her.” Ladybug attempted to cover up, realising the teen was still slumped on the ground beside them. Chat nodded frantically, pressing his lips together as if forcing himself to not say another word. She giggled, enjoying how flustered he was. Without thinking, she gave him a quick peck before grabbing Chloe and taking off. She only had a couple of minutes left until she transformed back, but she knew she could make it.

* * *

 

Adrien had already changed back, and was making his way back to the car. Despite time passing, his cheeks were still flushed from when Ladybug kissed him.

“It’s like she couldn’t help herself Plagg. Even after what happened last night, she still loves me!” He exclaimed excitedly. Plagg yawned from inside Adrien’s pocket, seemingly disinterested by the topic.

“She thinks she has to choose between Adrien and Chat Noir. I have to get back to my phone and call her to tell her the truth!” Adrien whipped around the corner to find Nathalie and the gorilla waiting by the car. The gorilla seemed relieved to see he was okay, where as Nathalie seemed unimpressed.

“There you are. You can’t keep your father waiting.” Nathalie warned, eying her watch nervously.

_Oh. I forgot about that. Again._


	5. What Lies Beneath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike the last chapter, this one was actually planned so it was a lot easier to write, as I didn't have to keep stopping to think "what is even happening right now" 
> 
> Warning: This chapter has a scene with mild sexual activity. It doesn't go very far, but if you need a warning before reading something with intimate content, here it is.

Chapter 5.

Adrien sat alone in the dining hall, resting his head on his arms half out of fatigue, half out of stress. The car ride was uncomfortably silent the rest of the way, and once they were home, his father was in the middle of a business call, so the suspense was tense for him. How much did his father know? How badly would he punish him? Adrien silently begged that his father was in an uncharacteristically good mood, that way he might be let off easy.

“Look, I don’t care what personal crisis you are going through, just get it done or I’ll find someone more competent!” Gabriel hissed into his phone as he burst into the room. Adrien flinched before snapping up to attention. Getting yelled at for bad posture didn’t need to be added to the list of worries. Gabriel ended his call and put his phone in his jacket’s inner pocket, before turning his attention to Adrien with a blank expression.

“Father.” Adrien greeted cautiously, not sure how to gauge what his father was thinking.

“Adrien, do you know why I’ve summoned you?” Gabriel asked dryly.

“Uh…I’m guessing not to have lunch?”

“I was informed that you were going to a classmate’s house yesterday to work on an assignment together, so you can imagine how surprised I was to find a charge to your credit card for the cinema.”

_Damn it, why did I have to try to impress Mari by paying?_

“I’m sor – ”

“Furthermore, I was equally shocked when I called the cinema to confirm you had been there, and they informed me that they saw you continuously making advances on a young woman with absolutely no regard for public decency. Do you not care for your public image? Did you forget my rule about dating? Lastly, did you think you could get away with lying to me?” Gabriel spat out, his calm resolve being eaten away by anger.

“I’m sorry for lying, father. I was so desperate to see the girl I like I didn’t think straight. But, is it really so bad for me to date? If you let me, I’d never have to lie about it.” Adrien attempted to reason with him.

“Don’t blame me for your foolishness, Adrien. If you had asked me for permission I may have granted it for a private date, but you went over my head and deliberately disobeyed me.” Gabriel lectured.

“Wait, you would have given me permission to date her?” Adrien perked up at the notion.

“That was before you betrayed my trust.” Gabriel responded coldly. Adrien hopped out of his seat and paced over to his father.

“Father, please let me keep seeing Marinette! I love her so much, and I’ve waited so long to be with her. She’s a really good girl, I promise!” Adrien pleaded, fighting back tears that were threatening to ruin his composure. Gabriel raised an eyebrow as he looked down at his son.

“Marinette? That baker’s daughter?” Gabriel questioned, voice heavy with tones of judgement.

“Yes, and the girl who won your design contest, and the girl you wanted to play Ladybug in Clara Nightingale’s music video, and the girl who made the scarf you pretended was a gift from you!” Adrien snapped, before reeling back and putting a hand over his mouth. Gabriel’s eyes widened, startled by the outburst. A minute of silent passed as Adrien debated internally whether to apologise or to stand his ground, while Gabriel waited to see what his son would do. When it became clear to them both that Adrien would not back down, Gabriel sighed.

“You must be serious about this girl if you’ve gained the ability to speak to me like that. If you wish to continue seeing this girl, so be it. But, I will have to meet her properly first. Tell her to cancel whatever her plans were this evening; she’s having dinner with us.” And with that statement, Gabriel turned sharply to the door and in a moment was gone. Adrien stood there, mouth agape in shock. He wasn’t grounded, or banned from school, or forbidden from seeing Marinette. He should be happy. But, he couldn’t shake the horrible feeling in his gut that this dinner would be bad news.

* * *

 

Marinette stared at the classroom door, wringing her hands nervously as she waited. She was nervous about whether or not Adrien would be coming back at all, but also about Chat Noir knowing her secret identity. What kind of danger did that put her and her loved ones in if Chat Noir was put under the control of an akuma victim again? A pit formed in her stomach as she imagined Chat Noir using Cataclysm against her parents, Alya, or even Adrien. Her mind flashed back to the fight earlier. Adrien seemed to be keeping Chat on his toes, but she could tell Chat was holding back for her. He seemed smart enough to know that she’d never forgive him if he hurt Adrien. Marinette groaned. She knew she loved Adrien, but even though she was still mad at Chat Noir, she still loved him. It hurt her head trying to pick one over the other to the point where she felt like screaming.

“Don’t worry girl, he’s coming back. Lunch isn’t over yet so he still has time.” Alya reassured Marinette, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Marinette gave her a weak smile before turning her eyes back to the door. Her mind wandered back to her other concern, that she might have gotten Adrien is serious trouble with his father. Suddenly, the door to the classroom creaked open, causing Marinette to hold her breath. When Adrien walked through the door, she let out a sigh of relief. Adrien’s eyes quickly met hers and he gave her a huge, goofy grin. She burst out of her seat, laughing as she ran towards him. Not looking where she was going, she tripped on a lose nail and went flying. With amazing reflexes, Adrien zipped toward her and caught her once again just before she hit the ground. He turned her over to face him, holding her in a dip.

“We have got to stop meeting like this.” He said coyly, cocking n eyebrow as he gave her a flirty grin. Marinette giggled, covering her face with her hands in an attempt to hide the blush that was spreading over her face.

“S-Stop it Adrien!” She mumbled, words muffled by her hands. She couldn’t handle Adrien being this forward. It was too much for her jittery little heart to handle.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. What did you say?” He asked, his voice growing increasingly flirty in tone.

“I said st –” Marinette began to say after moving her hands aside, but was cut short by Adrien leaning in and stealing a kiss from her. After a second of surprise, Marinette closed her eyes and kissed him back, cupping her hands over his cheeks. They were very warm, so she could only assume that if her eyes were still open, she’d see him blushing. If it weren’t for the sound of a phone camera clicking, they might have stayed like that forever. The pair turned in sync towards the noise to see Alya leaning over the table pointing her phone at them, a wild grin on her face.

“Alya!”Marinette cried out in protest. Alya laughed, still taking photos.

“What? I’ve been waiting a long time for you two to get your act together. I deserve something for what I’ve had to put up with.” Alya teased, dramatically gesturing toward herself.

“I feel that, dude.” Nino added, apparently having entered the room without being detected. Both Marinette and Adrien snapped upright, giggling and rubbing the backs of their necks nervously. After a moment of awkwardness, Adrien turned serious.

“Marinette, there’s something I have to tell you.” He stated, reaching out and holding her by the hand.

“Y-Yes? What is it?” She asked, becoming distracted by how beautiful he was when serious. She noticed his eyes glance from Alya to Nino, then back to her before sighing.

“I talked to my father about you…about us.” He revealed, a sad expression barely being veiled.

“Oh no. Did you get in trouble? Does he think I’m a bad influence? Did he forbid you from dating me? Will I get arrested for kissing you?” Marinette rambled on, losing herself in her own imagination. Adrien chuckled in amusement.

“Don’t worry, nobody is putting you under Agreste.”He joked with a wink. Marinette gasped.

_Did Adrien just…pun?_

Adrien’s eyes widened, as if realising what he had just said.

“I mean, no. We’re not in trouble. He actually wants to meet you properly. Are you free for dinner tonight?” Adrien course corrected into a reassuring tone. Pushing what just happened out of her mind, Marinette nodded enthusiastically.

“Woo, girl! Already meeting the in-law after one date! You’re crushing this!” Alya cheered. A second later, the bell for the end of lunch rang and the gang returned to their seats for class. As the class trickled in from lunch, several girls high fived Marinette on their way to their seats. Adrien turned to her, giving her a sassy look.

“Really? They all knew?” He questioned.

“Yeah…they may or may not have been involved in one or two horribly failed plans to get Mari to ask you out.”Alya admitted. Marinette once again giggled nervously. If she did it one more time she might just be stuck like that forever.

“That is…really cool. It’s awesome that they all had your back like that.” Adrien commented, smiling warmly. However, Marinette could tell that there was a touch of sadness behind the smile. She had a feeling it was because he could see that she had a whole network of support, where Adrien only really had Nino. Marinette wished deeply that Adrien’s father had let him go out and make friends sooner. That way he might have had more close friends he could rely on the same way Marinette could rely on hers. Her stomach flipped as her line of thinking forced her mind to remember the dinner plans for tonight.

_How badly can I screw this one up?_

* * *

 

When the bell for the end of school rang, Adrien burst out of his seat and turned to face Marinette, who had already packed up and was getting out of her seat to leave.

“Wait! Mari, can we talk in private? There’s something I need to tell you.” He asked, blocking her path.

“Can it wait? There’s so much I need to do to get ready for tonight if I have the slightest chance of not embarrassing myself in front of your father.” She replied, looking fairly stressed. He sighed.

“It can wait a bit longer, I suppose.” He mumbled in defeat, standind aside to let her past. She smiled brightly, giving him a quick peck before bolting out the room.

_I’m not sure how much longer I can last, Princess…_

Once Adrien had made it safely to his room after getting a schedule update for tomorrow from Nathalie, Adrien opened his bag and waved a wedge of camembert in front of the opening.

“You’re not planning on doing what I think you are, are you?” Plagg croaked apprehensively, grabbing the cheese and floating away.

“I have to tell her before tonight. I don’t think I’d survive dinner without it bursting out of me otherwise.” Adrien explained. Plagg sighed.

“We wouldn’t want Mr. Crabby knowing your little secret now, would we? Give me a minute to savour this and we’ll be off.” Despite what he said, Plagg still protested when Adrien only waited a minute to leave.

“Plagg, claws out!”

Chat Noir landed on Marinette’s balcony with a soft thud. He tip-toed to the trap door and silently entered through it into Marinette’s room. Seeing it was empty, he slid down the ladder attached to her bed and waited at the foot of it facing the door. After a few moments, the door swung open and Marinette walked in with freshly blow-dried hair which was still loose and nothing but a towel on. Chat Noir felt like his brain had broken. He could not handle how lovely she looked. The moment was ruined when she glanced up, noticed him standing there, and screamed. Quickly she muffled her mouth, and he noticed her parents wouldn’t notice the noise.

“Marinette? Are you okay?” He heard her mother call out.

“Yes, maman! It was just the hat stand making a shadow. Sorry for screaming.” She called out. Chat heard the sound of Marinette’s parents laughing from downstairs, and sighed in relief. Marinette shut her door and turned back to him with a furious expression.

“What are you doing here Chat? I thought I told you to not come back again.” She growled, adjusting her towel slightly to make sure it wouldn’t fall.’

“I know what you said, Princess. You said not to come back until I was ready to explain myself. Well, I’m here and I am ready to explain…My Lady.” He locked eyes with her, attempting to gauge her reaction.

“I know you know Chat Noir. You kind of messed it up earlier.” She said dryly.

“I’ve been messing up a lot lately. I need to fix what I have done. To do that, I have to reveal my identity, then everything will make sense.” Marinette flinched at the suggestion.

“Chat, no. It’s already too dangerous with you knowing who I am.” She dismissed.

“She’s right, Chat Noir. There have been many battles were you and Ladybug were pitted against each other. If she knows who you are and her mind gets taken over by an akuma victim it puts everyone you love in danger!” Marinette’s Kwami warned, popping up from where she had been resting undetected a minute earlier.

“But hiding the truth is hurting her! Why should I prioritise a hypothetical problem over something that is already affecting her.” Chat argued, trying not to let his emotions raise the volume of his voice. The little red Kwami squirmed, looking between Marinette and Chat Noir, before sighing.

“I guess I can’t stop you…” She admitted in defeat.

“Chat I don’t get it. How is knowing who you are going to fix anything you did? You told me to date the boy I’d been pining over just to watch me freak out from the temptation, and then when I got upset you enjoyed it! I’ve never been as scared of you as I was last night. I love you, Chat. But, I love Adrien too and right now I trust him more.” Marinette ranted, tears welling in her eyes. It felt like a gunshot to the heart seeing her so upset. But, he knew how to fix it.

“Claws in.” In a flash, he was Adrien again. Marinette’s eyes blew wide open in an expression of wild shock. After a few moments of processing, she winced and brought a hand up to the side of her head, which Adrien figured was the magic that disguised him becoming undone in her memories.

“Every time you vanished right before Chat Noir showed up, I never…even the same face with just different eyes and messy hair…Tikki saw you detransform and didn’t let on any time I gushed about my crush…you slipped out puns and grins so many times…” She thought out loud. Adrien paced to her, placing one hand on her waist and the other on her cheek.

“It’s me, Princess.” He said, tears of relief welling in his eyes. Before he could lean in for a kiss, she shook her head and pushed him off of her.

“Wait I saw Adrien and Chat at the same time when your driver got akumatized.”

“I put the helmet on that fanboy who was following us to throw everyone off.” He explained, reaching for her hand as she stepped backwards.

“But today I very clearly saw both Adrien and Chat Noir, up close. This doesn’t make any sense!” She complained, snapping her hand away from his.

“He got hit by the split personality light, causing Chat Noir and Adrien to split into separate entities.” Chimed in who Adrien assumed was the previously mentioned Tikki.

“Literally fighting myself feels very embarrassing in hindsight.” Adrien chuckled, joined by the laughter of Plagg, who had floated over to where Tikki was sitting. Marinette looked at the Kwamis, then back to Adrien.

“So you really are both?” She whispered with a soft, squeaky voice. Adrien smiled and nodded, once again reaching for her waist, this time grabbing it with both hands and pulling her towards him into a heartfelt embrace. He felt her hand grip onto the front of his jacket and she buried her face into his chest. Suddenly, he felt her tense up.

“Oh god, that means –”

“You rejected me for me? Don’t be too embarrassed, my love. I avoided considering Marinette as a romantic option for a while because I was too focused on my love for Ladybug. I literally had to keep telling myself you were just a friend before I snapped.” He admitted with a nervous laugh. She giggled, sending a gentle vibration into his chest.

“We are kind of the worst, aren’t we?” She asked, tilting her face upward to look at him.

“Now you know what we’ve had to deal with this whole time! You humans are intolerable with your stupid emotions!” Plagg exclaimed, dramatically collapsing backwards. Tikki stifled a laugh, smiling at the other Kwami. Adrien could only assume Marinette had been just as annoying, but Tikki was too polite to say. Ignoring them, Adrien turned his gaze back to his lady. A blush rose in her cheeks and her eyes sparkled as their eyes locked together.

“So how about it? Is this worth the risk?” He whispered, leaning his face towards hers slowly. Catching him off guard, Marinette bounced up, throwing her arms around his neck and catching his lips in a passionate kiss.

_Looks like I have my answer._

Continuing the kiss, he hoisted her up and she wrapped her legs around his hips. They squeezed each other, seeming to attempt to fuse bodies. Adrien felt a hand comb through his hair and grip for dear life, which gave him a wild sensation through his whole body and causing instincts to take over. He rushed over to the chaise and lowered them both onto it until they were lying down, making an effort not to drop his entire body weight onto her. Not breaking the kiss, his hand slid up her stomach and her chest, finally reaching where Marinette’s towel was being held together and curling his fingers around it, Just as he was about to tug, there was a delicate knock at the bedroom door.

“Mari, did you need any help getting ready for dinner tonight? You can borrow my jewellery if you would like.” Chirped the voice of Marinette’s mother from the other side of the door.

“Uh…I – I’m fine, Maman! Thank you!” Marinette stuttered nervously.

“Offer is open if you change your mind, sweetie. Oh, and one more thing; when you see Adrien can you ask him when he can be available for dinner with us? We’d love to get to know him more.”

“I’ll ask him when I see him!” Marinette called out in response, putting a hand over Adrien’s mouth as he went to giggle cheekily.

“Honey, I just want to say how happy we are for you. Not just because he might get you to finally learn Chinese, although I will talk to him about teaching you. We’re happy because you’re happy, and you deserve it too. No matter how tonight goes, we’re proud of you. Come downstairs when you’re ready to leave!” Sabine spoke warmly, before Adrien could hear soft footsteps lead away from the door. Before Adrien could stop himself, tears began bursting out of him, whimpering lowly out of shame. Marinette’s parents loved her so much. He found himself missing the soft tone of his mother’s voice, telling him kind words and offering gentle praise. It was hard for his father to connect like that even before his mother left, but since then Adrien struggled to remember a handful of times in which his father actually showed Adrien any love. Listening to Marinette’s mother only reminded him of what he was missing out on and what he needed so much. Delicate thumbs stroked Adrien’s cheeks, brushing his tears aside, hands landing on either side of his face. He gazed down at Marinette, who stared back up at him, eyes glistening with her own emotions.

“Adrien…you know I love you, right? I’ll always love you.” She whispered reassuringly. He nodded, a smile breaking through the tears.

“I love you too, Marinette…and I am never letting you go.”


	6. Satisfaction Brought Him Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dreaded dinner with Gabriel is upon the teen heroes. The final hurdle in their relationship. Is this a challenge they can overcome?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Anybody who has been reading from the beginning will know how long it has taken for this chapter release, and I am truly sorry for anyone who was waiting.
> 
> Apart from that, I just wanted to clarify that this fic was written before the second half of season 2 aired, so there were elements in the earlier chapters that aren't 100% compatible with canon, and for consistency within the fic, I have tried not to let what happened in canon effect how I finished this chapter unless it was compatible with the fanon within the fic.
> 
> Without further delay, please enjoy the final chapter of "Can't Get No Catisfaction"!

 

In the cool air of the early Parisian evening, Marinette paced briskly along the pavement, hands constantly fidgeting over the collar of her dress and the stitching at her waist.

“Tikki, should I have bought a dress for tonight?” She asked her Kwami, who was in her usual hiding place.

“You look beautiful and so does the dress you made! Don't worry, Marinette.” Tikki softly reassured.

“No, it's not that. What if Adrien's dad thinks I'm using him to get in the industry, and wearing something I designed only confirms his suspicions? He could yell at me and ban me from seeing Adrien and blacklist me from every design company in Europe!” Marinette ranted. Tikki giggled, then sighed.

“Don't you think you're being a little paranoid? Just focus on showing him how happy you and Adrien make each other. Any father, no matter how over-protective, would keep their child away from someone who makes them genuinely happy. Only Hawkmoth would be heartless enough to do that!” Marinette laughed at Tikki's pep talk. She rounded the corner to find the Agreste mansion up ahead.

“Thanks Tikki. What are you going to do while I'm at dinner? Go hang out with Plagg?” She asked, glancing up towards Adrien's window on the side of the estate. There was a soft hum of delight emitting from Marinette’s bag.

“Yes! We never get to talk that much at school because we couldn't have you notice us talking to anyone without giving away your identities to each other. But tonight we'll get to properly talk and catch up with each other! I'm very excited to know how he has been since we last- Marinette, why have you stopped walking?” Tikki chirped, before interrupting herself.

“We're here, Tikki. Please tell me all about your catch up with Plagg after dinner!”

“After you rave about how dinner with Gabriel Agreste was to me!” Tikki bantered, a cheeky tone clear in her voice. Marinette hushed her, before steadying her breath and squaring her shoulders into a more confident, well postured stance.

_I can do this!_

 Quickly, before she could change her mind and run away, she pushed the bell on the intercom at the gate. After a few daunting moments, there was a low tone to indicate the intercom has been turned on.

“Agreste residence. What is your business?” Nathalie’s voice crackled through the speaker. Marinette inhaled shallowly, preparing her response.

“Nathalie, is that Marinette? Let her in!” Interrupting her thought process was the voice of Adrien, audibly a considerable distance from the microphone. There was a sigh, and then the speaker cut out. Marinette assumed it was to tell him off for interrupting. After an uncomfortable amount of time, the tone rang again.

“Marinette! Come in! I’ll meet you at the door!” Chirped Adrien’s voice, right before the gate made a buzzing sound and swung open. Marinette giggled at his enthusiasm, imagining how Adrien managed to take over the comm system. With newfound mirth, her pace quickened as she approached the front door of the estate, excitement to see Adrien’s enthusiastic face breathing new energy into her. Before she can reach for the door, it swings open revealing a grinning Adrien. She squeaked and covered her mouth as she attempted to stifle further giggling. This boy was just too cute.

* * *

 

Marinette was just too cute for Adrien to handle. Even when he thinks he’s prepared, she goes and squeaks at him, the glowing blush on her cheeks making her sparkling blue eyes pop. He wanted to scoop her up and carry her like a princess. The idea of actually doing that in front of Nathalie and his father brought a childish giggle out of him.

“Adrien, stop! You look like a mischievous imp when you do that. I won’t be able to control myself from laughing at dinner if you keep it up!” She warned with an amused smile, her blushing getting worse.

“I refuse to apologise for being happy to see you, my Lady. Come on! I’ll show you to the dining room!” Still beaming, he reached for her wrist and pulled her in, winning an adorable yelp from her. Once inside, he moved his hand down into hers and interlocked their fingers together. Offering no resistance to the urge that popped into his head, he quickly lifted her hand and places a gentle kiss on the back of it, before lowering their arms and continuing on like nothing had happened. A moment later, he felt her shift closer into his side, placing her other hand on his bicep and resting her head on his shoulder.

“What am I going to do with you?” She asked with a sigh. Before he could offer a witty remark, an awkward cough scared him into releasing Marinette and stepping away to a respectable distance. He glanced to where the sound came from to see their usual personal chef waiting cautiously to the side. As the chef asked Marinette if she had any food allergies, Adrien relaxed and too relief in that it was not his father.

 _I’ve got to be way more careful. I can’t keep forgetting my father lives here and could show up any second every time I look into her eyes_.

Despite his fear that his father could show up any moment, he felt no surprise when he and Marinette had been waiting for twenty minutes in the dining room for him without even a message from Nathalie explaining he will be late. His father did this all the time with him, but this time Adrien was sure it was some sort of power play to show Marinette he had more important things to do and that her time was okay to waste.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette. He shouldn’t have asked you to come at this time if he wasn’t going to make it.” Adrien grumbled, fidgeting with the cutlery that was laid out before him.

“It’s okay, Adrien. This gives me time to mentally prepare myself for talking to your dad.” She reassured with a smile, clearly trying to ease his tension by teasing herself. It would have worked, if it weren’t for the door to the dining room bursting open, revealing his stone-faced father and not too far behind him, a mildly stressed looking Nathalie.

“Nathalie, please notify the kitchen staff I have arrived and they may begin serving.” Gabriel ordered as he paced from the doorway to his seat at the table. With a silent nod, Nathalie headed in the direction of the kitchen. As he sat, the tension in the room became so thick that Adrien imagined cutting through it with a butter knife. After taking several moments to gather himself, Adrien cleared his throat.

“Father, this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Adrien introduced.

“I gathered that on my own, Adrien. Seeing as I asked you to invite her to dinner.” Gabriel responded dryly. A moment later, kitchen staff popped into the room delivering their meals for the night. With no further conversation, the three of them ate in silence. It was far more awkward than their usual silent meals. Once finished, Gabriel pushed his plate away from himself and looked at Marinette.

 “I suppose you’re wondering why I did not arrive at dinner at the time I selected.” He less asked, more stated.

“I figured that your work delayed you. The fashion industry is a fast paced one and I imagine it takes a lot of time and commitment.” Marinette responded, attempting to maintain a professional tone.

“Then it would surprise you to know it was actually because of an extensive phone call with Mayor Bourgeois. Apparently my son’s new girlfriend was bullying his daughter quite relentlessly today.”

“That’s ridiculous! Marinette would never-”

“I believe the girl can talk for herself, Adrien. Is there any truth to this claim?”

“Yes.” She admitted softly. Adrien was shocked at first, but then it began to make more sense as certain memories came back to him. The way Marinette talked to Chloe when she insulted her uncle’s cooking, the way Ladybug tore Lila a new one when she caught her lying to me. When Marinette got mad, she could get mean. But, he couldn’t find himself being particularly mad with her actions. Hell, when she went off at Chloe he basically cheered her on for standing up for her uncle. Anytime he felt she went overboard, she always seemed to listen to him when he told her off. That mattered a lot more to him than what she said when upset.

“Did it end with her being akumatized?” Adrien could see where his father was going with this.

“Father, it’s not fair to blame this on Marinette. Chloe has been bullying Marinette for years. Even I wanted to get back at her for it!” Adrien defended, his voice raising. Gabriel scoffed.

“Doesn’t sound like Marinette is a very good influence if she’s convinced you to bully one of your oldest friends. But this isn’t the first time Marinette has been a bad influence, has it? If I do recall, that time you snuck out and got your driver akumatized you were with her, correct?” He questioned.

“No, I dragged her into it, not the other way around.” Adrien rebutted, but a raised palm from his father told him that he was not done yet.

“Not to mention that her chaotic actions almost led to you being banned from going to school. If she didn’t eventually confess to stealing my book from you, you’d have never gone back there. Who can say she won’t do something like that and get you in even deeper trouble?”

_Okay, this is new information._

“You stole the book? Why?” Adrien asked, looking at Marinette. Her eyes were wide open with panic, mouth opening and shutting like a fish out of water. Why did she steal the book? How? A low chuckle from his father drew his attention back.

“What was it again? You thought there would be pictures of Adrien in there modelling my latest designs? How does it feel to know that she’d nearly take your favourite thing away just to get closer to my work?” Gabriel spat out, somehow calmly and angrily at the same time. Adrien glanced back at Marinette, who instead of responding, remained shaking in her seat.

“Marinette?”

“Now that I think about it, I find it rather suspect that she just happens to be romantically interested in the son of her favourite designer. Trust me, Adrien. She wouldn’t be the first person to use relationships to climb up a career ladder faster than they deserve.” Adrien was fuming.

“I-I-I w-would n-never do th –” Marinette couldn’t finish her stammering sentence without bursting into tears.  As soon as she was uncontrollably crying, Gabriel  swiftly rose to his feet.

“These crocodile tears are making me lose my appetite. Excuse me, Adrien.” He groaned, before pacing back out the room, leaving behind a disgruntled Adrien and a sobbing Marinette. As soon as his father was gone, Adrien burst from his seat and rushed to Marinette’s side in a kneeling position.

“Marinette, I’m so sorry!” He whispered, grabbing her hand and rubbing circles over it with his thumb in an attempt to be comforting. This managed to stop Marinette crying for a moment.

“W-Why are you apologising?” She asked, looking so genuinely confused. She looked like she thought he could do no wrong. He threw himself face down into her lap.

“I knew my father might pull something like this to try and scare you off and I didn’t do anything to help you prepare for it, or stop it. I basically left you stranded and open to attack. He does this to me all the time so I know exactly how awful it feels and I still let it happen.” He moaned, not daring to look up at her. He felt a delicate hand rub up his back and into his hair, eliciting a shiver from him.

“Adrien, what do you mean he does this to you all the time?” Marinette asked, voice still audibly upset, but now focused and serious.

“He tells me everything about me that he disapproves of. The moment I do something wrong or out of line I get chewed out. That’s why I act so crazy as Chat Noir. I can do whatever I want without him telling me what a disappointment I am to him. Sometimes it’s over something so small it’s almost like he is trying to upset me on purpose.” Adrien explained, relaxing as her nails scratched soothingly over his scalp.

“Why on earth would he upset you on purpose?” Adrien sighed at the question.

“I always figured it was his way of trying to prepare me for ‘how cruel the world can be’, but seeing him do it to you too makes me doubt that.” Finally calm, he sat up again, leaving an arm draped over her lap. He looked up into her eyes to see a deep-in-thought expression.

“Well, on that train of thought, maybe he was testing to see how much I can handle accusations? You are pretty high profile so I wouldn’t be surprised if some gossip columnist tried going after me. Either that or he’s trying to get me akumatized.” Marinette giggled when she added that last part. Adrien barely supressed a chuckle.

“If he was trying to get you akumatized, then he’s probably very annoyed at how long it is taking to get me akumatized.” He joked, raising his other hand to rest on her waist.

“Remember when we thought your dad was Hawkmoth? Imagine if he was! He’d be sitting in his creepy lair thinking ‘why isn’t that stupid girl upset enough to be akumatized? Am I losing touch?’” She managed to say in a silly deep voice before cracking up. Adrien joined in laughing, hugging her and leaning in to her stomach and feeling her diaphragm bounce as she cackled. The laughter died down, but Adrien didn’t pull away.

“Is it sad that I almost prefer that option to my dad just hating you? I don’t think I can stand the idea of him banning us from seeing each other.” He admitted softly. Marinette hugged him back gently.

“If it ends up that your dad bans you from seeing me, that’s not going to stop us. I’d break any rule to be with you, minou.”

“Would you commit grand theft auto?” He asked, smirking into her stomach, which quickly jiggled as she laughed.

“Yes! Also arson! I’d do anything for you.” She reassured playfully.

“And I you, my lady.” He cooed back. He sits up again and reaches a hand to the side of her face. With no resistance, he pulls her toward him and their lips press together as if melting at the other’s touch. For the first time in a while, he felt at home in this house. After an eternity that was far too short, Adrien pulled back from her and gazed into her shimmering eyes.

“How do you always know exactly how to make me feel better?” He wondered out loud, caressing the apple of her cheek. She sighed with a bright smile as she brought her hands up to cup his jawline.

“Funny…I was about to ask you the exact same thing.”

As they went to lean in for another kiss, a cough coming from the doorway caused Adrien and Marinette to fling away from each other, leading to Marinette almost falling out of her chair. Adrien jolted his head toward the doorway to see his father standing in the threshold with a very surprised expression on his face. Once the surprise settles, his face turns to an expression of what looked like confusion and annoyance.

* * *

 

“Father! I – Marinette…we were…I think you – no wait, I mean – ” Adrien yelped, frantically pulling himself up and away from Marinette and into a straight postured stance. Marinette was bubbling with irritation at how Adrien had to conform to such a formal attitude in his own home. Had he ever been allowed to relax in front of his father? Marinette looked from Adrien to Gabriel, hoping that she was schooling at least some of her expression as to not glare at the man. It appeared that it was not enough, as Gabriel’s eyes widened, as if he could sense the full extent of her emotions. His gaze darted back to his son, who was still stammering as he attempted to find a sentence.

“Before you foolishly attempt to excuse your behaviour, I’d like to confess something. I am fully aware of the fact that Marinette lied to me about stealing the book. Why she’d cover for Mlle Rossi, however, is still a mystery.” Gabriel admitted, stepping close enough that she had to tilt her neck to look up at him, but not close enough to be touched.

“Lila stole the book?” Adrien interjected, looking completely confused, before an expression of understanding washed over his face as information seemed to lock into place.

 “How did you know Lila stole it?” Marinette questioned, allowing her tone to grow suspicious. Marinette could have sworn she saw the man’s eyes flash with panic before returning to his default.

 “When she was akumatized, her name and her look was taken straight out of my book. It was very clear that if anyone had taken it, it was her.” He answered. Marinette nodded, accepting the answer. If her sketch book went missing and someone showed up wearing one of her designs, it would not take a lot of brain power for her to figure out who had taken her work.

“But how did you get it?” Adrien asked her, looking confused once again. She fought back a smile at how cute he was when he was confused.

“I saw her dump it in the trash bin at the park before Ladybug confronted her about being a liar and fished it out. It looked too important to go in the trash. When I heard about Adrien being banned from school, I knew Lila would never help me explain why it wasn’t Adrien’s fault, so I had to make something up.” Marinette confessed, making sure to talk about her alter-ego like another person.

“Excellent. Not only does it seem you are willing to stay with Adrien despite high-stress situations, you are also willing to protect him to your own detriment.” He nodded with a slight, but approving smile.

“You were…testing Marinette?” Adrien questioned with a cautious, soft voice.

“Yes. My accusations were an attempt to see how easily Mlle Dupain-Cheng could be pushed to a breaking point. I will not have my son dating a girl who will run away when the paparazzi hit a sore point and break his heart. We will have to work on you containing your emotions so you don’t break in front of any cameras or reporters, but I believe yo – ” As Gabriel prattled on, Marinette couldn’t take it any more.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” She shouted far louder than she expected as she burst onto her feet. Gabriel blinked a couple of times in shock, before his brow dropped into a glare.

“I beg your pardon?” His tone becoming dark and threatening and he took an imposing step towards her. But she didn’t flinch away; she stood her ground and squared up.

“Marinette, what are you doing?” Adrien hissed in a panic. Marinette turned to see the boy frozen on the spot, eyes blown wide open as they darted between his girlfriend and his father. Only then did she step away from Gabriel, stepping towards Adrien to place one hand on his shoulder and the other on his chest in comfort.

“I’m sorry Adrien, but I can’t let him do this to you in good conscience. Not when you just told me that he often tests you in the same way.” She apologised, her voice becoming emotional. Despite how much her touch usually put him at ease, he remained tensed and panicked.

“Marinette please don’t – ” He started to beg, before Gabriel waved his hand and he immediately stopped talking.

“It’s okay, son. I’d like to hear what she has to say about my parenting.” Gabriel stated with the thinnest veil of calmness over his anger that Marinette had ever seen. Marinette took a deep breath. She had to get this right, or she could end up making Adrien’s relationship with his father even worse. But in order for it to get better, she had to go hard.

“It’s completely emotionally manipulative for you play with his feelings like that. It may be efficient to test people in a professional environment, but you shouldn’t treat Adrien like an employee, you should treat him like your son who needs your support to be strong. It’s not healthy for a child to be paranoid about whether or not they can trust their parent; not when they should be who they trust more than anyone in the world! My dad is the biggest, strongest person I know, and if he wanted to he could break my neck with one hand. But I am never afraid of him because I know he would never hurt me, because he is always showing me how much he loves me. Does Adrien know you would never hurt him?” Marinette finished unloading her powerful rant with a question, confidence not shaking as she stared down Gabriel, waiting for a response. As Marinette’s rant sinks in, Gabriel’s eyes go wide with rage.

“How dare you suggest Adrien is afraid of me, and that he might think I would ever hurt him. I love Adrien! I…I would never hurt him!” He bellowed, voice booming as it bounced back off the walls. Marinette felt Adrien’s hands grasp at her waist and wrist, gripping tight as if she would vanish if his father yelled enough.

“You know that. But does he know that? Do you show him that’s how you feel?” Marinette questioned further, not letting her emotions let her raise her voice in retaliation or soften in fear.

“I…” Gabriel began, before his eyes shifted to look at Adrien and appeared to notice his stance for the first time. The teenage boy was clinging desperately to Marinette to the point where her hand was starting to change colour, and if Marinette thought the man was paying enough attention, she was sure that he’d see that his knees were shaking. The look in Adrien’s eyes told her that he was forcing himself not to cry, but was too scared to move. She wondered what Gabriel could see. She glanced back at the imposing man to see that the anger in his face had shifted to once of shock. He closed his eyes and sighed, his posture drooping as he dropped into the closest dining chair. The room went silent for what felt like several minutes before Gabriel cleared his throat.

“Adrien…you know more than most that I have a lot of intimacy issues. I know that since your mother…that you haven’t had someone at home who is warm for a while. You are so smart and calm, I forget- no, I _ignore_ that you still need that. I will try harder, Adrien.” Gabriel repented, not looking up as he spoke. The grip on her waist and wrist relaxed and dropped away from her. She watched as Adrien cautiously stepped toward his father and reach for him, before halting his approach. Gabriel looked up at his son, seemed to take in the boy’s half-reached out arms before looking him in the eyes. Without warning, the man rose to his feet and captured Adrien in a very intense hug. Adrien gasped, before relaxing and returning the hug with all his heart.

“I love you, father.” Adrien whispered, voice muffled in his father’s chest. Marinette noticed that the hug tightened, and found herself beaming with joy. Adrien needed this from his dad, and she had helped him get it. She’s helping him feel happy, feel loved. At this moment in time, she felt more like a hero without her spots than she ever had before. She must have shifted her weight and made some sort of noise, because Gabriel had suddenly opened his eyes and looked right at her.

Did his body just tense up?

“Father? Are you okay?” Adrien asked, voice riddled with concern, clearly able to physically feel his father’s shift in mood. Gabriel stepped away from Adrien, patting his shoulder before pacing back to the doorway.

“I will have to cut dinner short, unfortunately. The phone call with Mayor Bourgeois cut into my work and I have much left to deal with. Mme Dupain-Cheng, it has gotten quite late, so I suggest you head home. I would not want to be responsible for your parents worrying about you.” Gabriel informed, his entire demeaner returning to his default. Before either of them could respond, the man left the room, and was swiftly replaced by Nathalie who seemed ready to escort Marinette out. She looked back at Adrien to see he had adopted the expression of a kicked puppy.

“He makes a good point; it is getting late. We can hang out another time.” Marinette reminded him, giving him a comforting rub on his back.

“Call me later?” He asked with a slight smile.

“Of course.” She promised, lifting up onto the balls of her feet to press a gentle kiss into his cheek.

With that, she followed Nathalie to the front door of the estate. The woman was silent, but it felt more professional than awkward. When they reached the gate, Nathalie turned to Marinette and looked as if she wanted to say something, but her expression shifted as though she changed her mind.

“Do you need me to arrange a lift for you?” Nathalie asked. It felt more gentle than she’s ever seen the woman speak before.

“Thank you, Nathalie. But I’m fine. I think I need the walk home after…” Marinette began to explain, but trailed off, not sure how much would be appropriate to say.

“I understand. I hope to see you back here, Marinette.” The woman spoke warmly. Marinette smiled brightly back at her and gave her an enthusiastic nod. Returning the nod with a lot less enthusiasm, Nathalie turned on her heel and made her way back to the house. Once she was gone, Marinette reached for her purse.

“Tikki?” She whispered as she opened the clasp. Inside sat her adorable kwami, who looked up at her with a warm, bubbly smile.

“I made it back, it’s okay! Adrien left cookies for me in his room! Isn’t that sweet?” Tikki chirped happily.

“That’s all great news, considering what I want to do next. Tikki, spots on!”

* * *

 

“Plagg! You should have seen it! You should have seen her! She was amazing!” Adrien exclaimed as soon as he found the little black kwami in his room.

“What did she do? Did she fit an entire wheel of cheese in her mouth at once? That would be amazing.” Plagg commented with a gleeful tone. Adrien chuckled at the kwami’s good mood and ever so predictable fixation on cheese.

“No, even better. She stood up to my dad and won! She got him to hug me, Plagg!” Adrien revealed excitedly, scooping Plagg up and nuzzling his cheek into the top of his head. Plagg purred as he chuckled at Adrien’s outburst of affection, which only made him feel even warmer. When he had first gotten Plagg, the kwami would cringe away from him any time he tried to pet him or hug him, fleeing out of reach with a scoff. Slowly, Plagg had become more open to affection, sometimes on the rare occasion even initiating it. The pair of them really had come far.

“That’s great to hear! Somebody needed to tell your old man what was up, and I knew pigtails could do it. I’d go as far as to say she’s the most impressive Ladybug Tikki has ever picked.” Plagg stated confidently. Adrien lifted his head away to look at him.

“Really?”

“Totally. How else would you explain her being the perfect match for my best Chat Noir ever?” Plagg confirmed, before rubbing his cheek into Adrien’s chest and resuming his purring.

“Wow, spending time with Tikki really puts you in a good mood, doesn’t it?” Adrien commented with a laugh. Plagg’s eyes widened and ceased his cuddling.

“Pfft- No! What are you talking about? I’m just in a good mood because of that wheel of high quality camembert you left for me. It’s heavenly goodness tricked me into being nice to you, is all.” Plagg retorted defensively, flying out of Adrien’s hands and back to his perch on one of Adrien’s pillows. Before Adrien could laugh at his kwami’s antics, there was a gentle rapping sound at his window. He spun on the spot to see Ladybug hanging in front of it, beaming with as much excitement as Adrien felt. He rushed for the remote that controlled the windows and let her in. Before she could get a foot on the floor, he bolted over to her and pulled her into a very energetic bear hug and spun her around.

“I thought you were just going to call!” He gasped.

“Yeah, and this is a house call!” She giggled cheekily. The sound was truly infectious, as he found himself giggling too.

“I can’t believe you…” He murmured into the curve of her neck as he slowly put her down.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t believe someone as amazing as you exists. You stood up to my father and it worked! I don’t there’s anything in the world that you couldn’t do!” He proclaimed, pressing kisses into her neck and up her jaw to her cheeks in between words.

“If I didn’t already know you were Ladybug, that would have given it away. You standing up to my father felt exactly how it felt when you first stood up to Hawk Moth. I had no idea I could love you more than I already did.” He confessed, running out of breath between the kisses and the talking. He feels Ladybug grasp onto his cheeks gently and pull him back. Before he could protest, he locks eyes with her and becomes entranced by the deeply loving expression she wore.

“I’ll do everything in my power, magic or not, to show you that I love you just as much, if not more.” She promised, the shining look in her eyes telling him that she meant every word. He felt a grin stretch over his face.

“Impawssible, M’lady.”

He had expected her to groan at his silly pun ruining the moment, so he was wildly caught off guard when she pulled him in and captured his lips in an intense kiss of passion. He wasn’t about to complain either. He also wasn’t going to complain when she picked him up and carried him across the room to press against the wall. He had always wondered what it had felt like for her every time he had done this as Chat Noir in her bedroom. He definitely felt what the hype was about. He lifted his legs to wrapped around her hips and pulled her in tighter to his body. Her grip on his ass tightened, making him shudder into her mouth. She bucked into him, forcing him back into the wall harshly, making everything touching it rattle. He gasped in pain as the grip on his ass and the intensity of her kisses grew a little too strong. At the sound, Ladybug immediately relaxed, putting him down and stepping back.

“Sorry! Ugh, how on earth did you hold yourself back every time you were transformed with me?” She asked with a frustrated sigh. Adrien closed the gap between them and put one hand on her hip, the other on the back of her neck. He didn’t want her to feel like he was scared to touch her.

“Why do you think I insisted in you being in control most of the time?” He asked with a playful tone.

“I always assumed it was some sort of submissive kink.” She quipped back, finally smiling again. He chuckled as he leaned in close to her lips again.

“I never said that wasn’t an influencing factor.” He half joked. Before their lips could meet again, they are interrupted by an exaggerated groan.

“Please tell me you’re not going to keep going. I don’t think I can handle sitting here and having to watch this nonsense again.” Plagg complained. Adrien grinned darkly.

“I have a solution for that. Plagg, claws out!” Plagg groaned as the command pulled him into the ring, the sound ceasing as the transformation took place. Chat Noir locked eyes with Ladybug and shared a knowing look. With them both transformed, they wouldn’t be able to hurt each other accidentally and wouldn’t have to hold back at all. Ladybug seemed most ready to test this as Chat Noir felt himself be grabbed by the hips and pushed back into the wall, this time leaving a crack in the wall and yet not feeling even half the pain. Chat Noir smiled into his kiss with her, thinking about all the ways they could destroy his room with their passion. The thought didn’t bother him; there was nothing his lady’s magic couldn’t fix.

THE END.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading what was the first fan fiction I ever wrote! I may have written (and finished) other fics before finishing this one, but I always wanted to come back and finish this one some day. The motivation came very suddenly today so I knuckled down and churned out this baby.
> 
> To anyone who has been waiting for the end of this since the beginning, and to everyone who has started sometime after, I hope you enjoyed the ending and got your catisfaction ;3


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